[PIF]

Osmium, the rarest metal on Earth, is drawing increasing attention not only for its unique properties but also for its staggering value. Currently priced at $1,350 per gram.

—
Opals can go for as much as $49,000 per gram.

[EnderWiggin1970]

Opals are not an element. But this article is nonsense in the way it repeatedly states that osmium will just be "gone."

I assume (not being completely insane) that they actually mean stocks of osmium that have been mined and refined will be used up at current rates by 2026. But since that will cause the price to increase it will spark anyone with the means to mine more to do so and take advantage of the increased profits from doing so - the free market in action. If only journalists like this understood the basics of the free market in action.

The notion that we've somehow used up all the osmium on earth (presumably transmuting what we had via medieval alchemy or nuclear reactions into some other element) is too ridiculous for words.

[JimRed]

“Opals can go for as much as $49,000 per gram.”

Just for polishing up nice and looking pretty?