Rhodium is located in the catalytic converter, which is part of the exhaust system on the underside of a vehicle. It is used as a catalyst, along with platinum and palladium, to reduce harmful exhaust emissions, specifically nitrogen oxides (NOx).
What metal is in a catalytic converter? Catalytic converters clean up emissions from gasoline and diesel vehicles using metal catalysts which usually contain platinum, palladium and rhodium.
Typically, the amount of rhodium in a catalytic converter is anywhere between 1-2 grams, while the amount of platinum ranges anywhere from 3 to 7 grams and the amount of palladium ranges anywhere from 2 to 7 grams.
Rhodium is the rarest of all non-radioactive metals. It occurs uncombined in nature, along with other platinum metals, in river sands in North and South America. It is also found in the copper-nickel sulfide ores of Ontario, Canada.
While you might imagine that extracting the precious metal content from catalytic converters would be as simple as cracking the converter open and prying the platinum, palladium, or rhodium out, it's actually an incredibly sophisticated process.
Canadian mine production of platinum group metals, by element, 2023 (p) This chart illustrates the breakdown of Canadian PGM mine production by element in 2023: palladium (75.4%), platinum (24.2%), and rhodium (0.4%).
According to data from 2020, the most expensive catalytic converter belonged to the Ferrari F430, with a mind-popping $3,770.00 price tag. Moreover, the F430 needed two of them, so a full replacement would run car owners $7,540 before labor costs.
Although the underlying metal may be magnetic, the rhodium plating itself is not magnetic. Thus, if you have a piece of jewelry that has been rhodium plated, it will not be magnetic.
Ford F-150
In fact, Carfax ranks the Ford F-150 number one as the car most likely to have its catalytic converter stolen nationwide. Criminals target this model because it sits high off the ground, making it easy for them to crawl under quickly.
Although the quantities vary by model, on average, only one standard catalytic converter contains about 3-7 grams of platinum, 2-7 grams of palladium, 1-2 grams rhodium. That provides serious gains when tons of scrap catalytic converters are recovered.
Which car parts is Palladium used in? Around 85% of palladium is used in vehicle's exhaust systems, as part of the catalytic converter, turning toxic pollutants into less-harmful gases before they are released into the atmosphere.
Found generally in two different places, catalytic converters, and jewelry. Rhodium is used to be coated onto gold jewelry to be able to create “white gold.” The primary use for Rhodium is in the catalytic converter market and is helped to negate the fumes and emissions from car engines.
8 out of 15 of the most stolen cars of the last ten years are made by Japanese automakers. American models tend to be the most common target when it comes to stolen pickup trucks. From 2019-2021, Ford full-size pickups were the most stolen vehicles in the nation. Pickups are the main target of car thieves in 32 states.
Some catalytic converters are worth more simply because of the car they came from. Japanese brands like Toyota, Honda and Mazda (older models in particular) tend to fetch high prices, particularly from hybrid models that contain more precious metals.
In particular, there is a high demand around the world for platinum, palladium, and rhodium—rare precious metals found inside the catalytic converters. Their job is to help ensure that the unburned residues of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, or nitrogen oxides are oxidized and neutralized.
Canada produced 60 minerals and metals at almost 200 mines and 6,500 sand, gravel and stone quarries. The value of Canada's mineral production reached $71.9 billion in 2023. Gold was the top-ranked commodity by value of production in Canada in 2023 with a value of $14.4 billion.
Palladium is currently the most expensive of the four major precious metals - gold, silver, platinum and palladium.
Catalytic converters are targeted for theft because of the precious metals they contain, such as platinum, palladium, and/or rhodium which can yield fast cash to a thief.