One half of a high-purity (99.99%), electron-beam-remelted ruthenium bar. Size ca. 40 × 15 × 10 mm, weight ca. 44 g. — Photo: Alchemist-hp ( talk ) ( www.pse-mendelejew.de ) · FAL
Ruthenium
A rare platinum-group transition metal (symbol Ru, atomic number 44) — hard, unreactive, and found in platinum ores.
Intro adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Ruthenium is an IMA-recognized mineral species in the native element class, with the chemical formula Ru.
It crystallizes in the hexagonal crystal system (space group P6_3/mmc).
Key properties: specific gravity 12.438.
IMA symbol Ru, IMA status: approved, named in 1974.
Found in a platinum grain (Uryu River, Japan).
It is found associated with Platinum, other PGE minerals.
The name comes from the Latin Ruthenia, for Ukraine or Russia, as the element was found associated with platinum in the Ural Mountain placers, Russia.