# You have 70,000 tons of iridium--what do you do with it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 8, 2023, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-70-000-tons-of-iridium-what-do-you-do-with-it/994313 "2023-12-08T22:04:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2023, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-70-000-tons-of-iridium-what-do-you-do-with-it/994313/1 "2023-12-08T22:04:18Z")
A recent episode of a science fiction series introduced the discovery of an asteroid containing around 70,000 tons of iridium. Currently global iridium production is around 7 tons per year, so that’s around 10,000 years worth. However, it still isn’t an especially huge amount, representing less than one day’s worth of steel mass produced, for example. It is claimed that the iridium from the asteroid would trigger a technological revolution. So–what are things we can we do with a “lump sum” of 70,000 tons of iridium that we can’t do because of the current rate of 7 tons per year. I’m thinking more revolutionary than more pen nubs and spark plugs. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2023, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-70-000-tons-of-iridium-what-do-you-do-with-it/994313/2 "2023-12-08T22:16:24Z")
Seems to me, the first thing you do with 70k tons of iridium is crash the iridium market. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2023, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-70-000-tons-of-iridium-what-do-you-do-with-it/994313/3 "2023-12-08T22:17:39Z")
Replace all my palladium catalyzed reactions with iridium catalyzed ones. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2023, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-70-000-tons-of-iridium-what-do-you-do-with-it/994313/4 "2023-12-08T22:25:20Z")
Distribute iridium dust around the world so future societies will mistakenly believe there was an asteroid strike about now. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2023, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-70-000-tons-of-iridium-what-do-you-do-with-it/994313/5 "2023-12-08T22:27:43Z")
You could cut out the middleman and accomplish that by actually crashing the 70kt iridium asteroid into the Earth. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2023, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-70-000-tons-of-iridium-what-do-you-do-with-it/994313/6 "2023-12-08T22:30:38Z")
My thought too. Iridium is valuable because it is rare. This makes it not rare in a moment. Best to sell it a little bit at a time over many years. Given its rarity I can’t imagine there is a big market for it. Industry gets along fine without it so they will not be beating a path to your door for it. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2023, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-70-000-tons-of-iridium-what-do-you-do-with-it/994313/7 "2023-12-08T22:39:42Z")
That is the problem - until something is common enough, it’s hard to figure out what you would use it for if it was common. Metallic aluminum was a decorative metal before it was common enough for use in everything ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2023, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-70-000-tons-of-iridium-what-do-you-do-with-it/994313/8 "2023-12-08T22:40:44Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > You could cut out the middleman and accomplish that by actually crashing the 70kt iridium asteroid into the Earth. I’m still using the ecosystem but it’s fun to confuse a future Alvarez ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2023, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-70-000-tons-of-iridium-what-do-you-do-with-it/994313/9 "2023-12-08T23:51:30Z")
Eh…I think material science is far enough along to know what uses they have for iridium. Which, so far, amount to spark plugs and fountain-pen nibs. A few other things too. But, while valuable, I don’t think there is a massive market for it that would be happy to gobble up 70,000 tons in a day (or week or month or year). ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2023, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-70-000-tons-of-iridium-what-do-you-do-with-it/994313/10 "2023-12-09T00:01:11Z")
Reading the Wikipedia article on iridium, its advantages seem to be corrosion resistance, hardness and heat resistance. So would it be useful as an exterior skin on buildings, or in vehicle production? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2023, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-70-000-tons-of-iridium-what-do-you-do-with-it/994313/11 "2023-12-09T00:05:13Z")
70,000 tons of iridium (doesn’t matter what type of ton you use for this back of the envelope stuff) is a sphere less than 60 feet in diameter. Or think of it as around a third of an ounce each for everyone on Earth. Not enough to use in lots of bulk in construction projects. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2023, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-70-000-tons-of-iridium-what-do-you-do-with-it/994313/12 "2023-12-09T00:05:49Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > I’m still using the ecosystem but it’s fun to confuse a future Alvarez What is a “future Alvarez”? ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2023, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-70-000-tons-of-iridium-what-do-you-do-with-it/994313/13 "2023-12-09T00:06:37Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > Metallic aluminum was a decorative metal before it was common enough for use in everything The Washington Monument is topped with aluminum, the top of the pyramidion is a large, marble capstone with a small aluminum pyramid at its apex, with inscriptions on all four sides. ([Wikicite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Monument): third paragraph of a long article) Confusing future Alvarezes is a worthy endeavour, but I guess 70,000 tons of iridium would be best put to use as catalizers. I guess it would be useful to make hydrogen. If no one else wants it, I would take it. I think I know where to store it. It’s not like it would rust when exposed to the elements. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2023, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-70-000-tons-of-iridium-what-do-you-do-with-it/994313/14 "2023-12-09T00:07:34Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > What is a “future Alvarez”? Like a [past Alvarez](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvarez_hypothesis), but later. ---
**Author:** ![Guapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@Guapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guapo)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2023, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-70-000-tons-of-iridium-what-do-you-do-with-it/994313/15 "2023-12-09T00:09:36Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Like a [past Alverez](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvarez_hypothesis), but later. It’s hard to be later than the late Alvarez ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2023, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-70-000-tons-of-iridium-what-do-you-do-with-it/994313/16 "2023-12-09T00:12:15Z")
BTW, it looks like it wouldn’t be a boon for the fountain pen industry after all. > **[How can we talk about iridium? | Nibs](https://www.nibs.com/blog/nibster-writes/how-can-we-talk-about-iridium)** > > My technical accomplice, Kurt Montgomery and I have laid to rest the idea that fountain pens are tipped with iridium. No nib manufacturer that we have found is using iridium for the tipping of fountain pens anymore. And in fact, they have not been... ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2023, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-70-000-tons-of-iridium-what-do-you-do-with-it/994313/17 "2023-12-09T00:14:40Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > 70,000 tons of iridium (doesn’t matter what type of ton you use for this back of the envelope stuff) is a sphere less than 60 feet in diameter. Or think of it as around a third of an ounce each for everyone on Earth. Not enough to use in lots of bulk in construction projects. Whatever. My point was that you have to consider what makes it unique when speculating how it might be used if it’s more easily available. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2023, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-70-000-tons-of-iridium-what-do-you-do-with-it/994313/18 "2023-12-09T00:38:23Z")
Exactly ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2023, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-70-000-tons-of-iridium-what-do-you-do-with-it/994313/19 "2023-12-09T00:39:56Z")
Make a throne and declare myself Emperor of the Third Imperium. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2023, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-70-000-tons-of-iridium-what-do-you-do-with-it/994313/20 "2023-12-09T00:45:28Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > Replace all my palladium catalyzed reactions with iridium catalyzed ones. I remember a chemistry paper from the 90s talking about how one advantage of their iridium catalyst was that it was so much cheaper than palladium. That was definitely _not_ the case when I was working on iridium catalysts 15 years later (PGM prices fluctuate wildly.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-70-000-tons-of-iridium-what-do-you-do-with-it/994313.md?page=2)