One of Earth’s rarest metals, ruthenium (lat. ruthenium) can be extracted by removing other platinum group elements out of mined multi-metal compounds. Ruthenium has a melting point of 2250°C and a boiling point of 3900°C. Ruthenium is a silver-grey, strong, and highly chemically resistant metal with excellent corrosion resistance.
The industrial applications of ruthenium are extremely diverse. Ruthenium is used in the manufacture of chips for computer hard drives and other electronic devices (e.g., telephones). The amounts of ruthenium found in traditional electronic and household appliances are extremely small. As a result, it’s not economically viable to organise retail processing of such appliances to extract ruthenium.
Platinum and palladium metals, when reinforced with ruthenium, have extremely high strength; such metal alloys are often used in the manufacture of luxury jewellery. There is also growing interest and demand for ruthenium in the hydrogen industry.
Sources:
https://www.britannica.com/science/ruthenium