Of all the metals that play a large role in large-scale industry titanium is the most highly prized for being as strong as steel yet only half the weight and naturally resistant to corrosion. At a cool $10,000 per ton, however, only the most well funded projects can afford to use titanium for structural components rather than simply as accents. Perhaps the most impressive use to date were the Soviet-era Alpha class submarines which are widely though to be the deepest diving military subs ever made. Not surprisingly, the Russian navy referred to these as "golden fish."

Much of what makes titanium expensive, however, isn't simply the cost of the metal but the special techniques and tools necessary to form it into the needed shapes. Our titanium here is known in the trade as "grade 1" which is titanium in its purest commercial grade. Unalloyed titanium is desirable (in addition to element collectors) in medicine because the human body does not react negatively to its presence and, in fact, will even allow it to mesh in with bone tissue; explaining its wide use in hi-tech prosthetics and other types of implants.

CAS 7440-32-6