(Gr. rhodon, rose) Wollaston discovered rhodium in 1803-4 in crude platinum ore hepresumably obtained from South America.

Rhodium occurs native with other platinum metals in river sands of the Urals and inNorth and South America. It is also found with other platinum metals in the copper-nickelsulfide area of the Sudbury, Ontario region. Although the quantity occurring here is verysmall, the large tonnages of nickel processed make the recovery commercially feasible. Theannual world production of rhodium is only 7 or 8 tons.