Facts you may not have known about platinum

All the platinum ever mined from the beginning of time would fit into a typical living room.

The coronation crown of the Queen Mother was made from platinum.

The Kohinoor (Mountain of Light) diamond, part of the crown jewels is set in platinum.

Around two tonnes of ore has to be mined to obtain enough platinum to make a ring.

Platinum's melting point is almost double that of gold.

Platinum is used in the hard discs of most PC's to improve capacity and durability.

Platinum is resistant to attack from most chemicals.

The only material suitable for the electrode in heart pacemakers is platinum.

Platinum is used to make nitrogen fertilisers.

1 gram of platinum can be made into wire 2 kilometres long.

One third of the platinum mined in the world in 2005 was made into jewellery.

The Duke and Duchess of Windsor had platinum wedding rings made by Cartier.

There is no platinum in a platinum record; it's only plastic dipped in silver.

It takes 8 weeks to refine pure platinum from the ore extracted from the earth.