Because of its scarcity in Earth's crust, only a few hundred tonnes are produced annually, and given its important uses, it is highly valuable and is a major precious metal commodity.

Because it occurs naturally in the alluvial sands of various rivers, it was first used by pre-Columbian South American natives to produce artifacts.

It was referenced in European writings as early as the 16th century, but it was not until Antonio de Ulloa published a report on a new metal of Colombian origin in 1748 that it began to be investigated by scientists.

Bulk platinum does not oxidize in air at any temperature, but it forms a thin surface film of PtO2 that can be easily removed by heating to about 400 °C.

Due to its spin and large abundance, 195Pt satellite peaks are also often observed in 1H and 31P NMR spectroscopy (e.g., for Pt-phosphine and Pt-alkyl complexes).

[31] In 1924, the geologist Hans Merensky discovered a large supply of platinum in the Bushveld Igneous Complex in South Africa.

[34] In 2010, South Africa was the top producer of platinum, with an almost 77% share, followed by Russia at 13%; world production in 2010 was 192,000 kg (423,000 lb).

Correspondingly, platinum is found in slightly higher abundances at sites of bolide impact on Earth that are associated with resulting post-impact volcanism, and can be mined economically; the Sudbury Basin is one such example.

Platinum(IV) oxide, PtO2, also known as "Adams' catalyst", is a black powder that is soluble in potassium hydroxide (KOH) solutions and concentrated acids.

[46] The negative oxidation states exhibited by platinum are unusual for metallic elements, and they are attributed to the relativistic stabilization of the 6s orbitals.

)[50][51] Organoplatinum compounds such as the above antitumour agents, as well as soluble inorganic platinum complexes, are routinely characterised using 195Pt nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

[53][54] The metal was used by Native Americans near modern-day Esmeraldas, Ecuador to produce artifacts of a white gold-platinum alloy.

Archeologists usually associate the tradition of platinum-working in South America with the La Tolita Culture (c. 600 BCE – 200 CE), but precise dates and location are difficult, as most platinum artifacts from the area were bought secondhand through the antiquities trade rather than obtained by direct archeological excavation.

[58] The first European reference to platinum appears in 1557 in the writings of the Italian humanist Julius Caesar Scaliger as a description of an unknown noble metal found between Darién and Mexico, "which no fire nor any Spanish artifice has yet been able to liquefy".

[58] In 1735, Antonio de Ulloa and Jorge Juan y Santacilia saw Native Americans mining platinum while the Spaniards were travelling through Colombia and Peru for eight years.

[59] In 1741, Charles Wood,[60] a British metallurgist, found various samples of Colombian platinum in Jamaica, which he sent to William Brownrigg for further investigation.

[clarification needed] Other chemists across Europe soon began studying platinum, including Andreas Sigismund Marggraf,[62] Torbern Bergman, Jöns Jakob Berzelius, William Lewis, and Pierre Macquer.

In 1752, Henrik Scheffer published a detailed scientific description of the metal, which he referred to as "white gold", including an account of how he succeeded in fusing platinum ore with the aid of arsenic.

[59] Because the other platinum-family members were not discovered yet (platinum was the first in the list), Scheffer and Sickingen made the false assumption that due to its hardness—which is slightly more than for pure iron—platinum would be a relatively non-pliable material, even brittle at times, when in fact its ductility and malleability are close to that of gold.

After several months, Chabaneau succeeded in producing 23 kilograms of pure, malleable platinum by hammering and compressing the sponge form while white-hot.

[67] Unprecipitated hexachloroplatinate(IV) may be reduced with elemental zinc, and a similar method is suitable for small scale recovery of platinum from laboratory residues.

The remaining 28.9 tonnes went to various other minor applications, such as medicine and biomedicine, glassmaking equipment, investment, electrodes, anticancer drugs, oxygen sensors, spark plugs and turbine engines.

Its most important application is in automobiles as a catalytic converter, which allows the complete combustion of low concentrations of unburned hydrocarbons from the exhaust into carbon dioxide and water vapor.

Platinum is also used in the petroleum industry as a catalyst in a number of separate processes, but especially in catalytic reforming of straight-run naphthas into higher-octane gasoline that becomes rich in aromatic compounds.

It is used in platinum-based proton exchange membrane (PEM) technologies required in green hydrogen production as well as fuel cell electric vehicle adoption (FCEV).

Jewellery trade publications advise jewellers to present minute surface scratches (which they term patina) as a desirable feature in an attempt to enhance value of platinum products.

[80][81] In watchmaking, Vacheron Constantin, Patek Philippe, Rolex, Breitling, and other companies use platinum for producing their limited edition watch series.

Platinum is used as an alloying agent for various metal products, including fine wires, noncorrosive laboratory containers, medical instruments, dental prostheses, electrical contacts, and thermocouples.

[92] The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has set a recommended exposure limit (REL) for platinum as 1 mg/m3 over an 8-hour workday.

[96] The misunderstanding is created by healthcare workers who are using inappropriately the name of the metal as a slang term for platinum-based chemotherapy medications like cisplatin.