Reasons a fictitious metal is really hard to refine?

For my story there exists a fictitious element with special properties. In its pure form is most closely resembles metal (for its physical properties)

This material is quite abundant in salt and oxide forms, but extremely rare in its pure form. There are real life examples of metals hard to get in pure form like Aluminium, due to its reactivity and the strong bonds it makes. However, could there also be a reason a relatively inert metal could bind in ways making it extremely hard to refine, or at least refine to an acceptable purity?

Technology level: Magical technology -> There is a certain balance between the use of magic by people and the application of reality based physical laws, permitting a certain mix of technology and magic allowing for unique technological developments. But for the purposes of metallurgy we can state they're about equally or slightly advanced over our current technological capabilities here on earth.

posted almost 5 years ago

Hyfnae‭

1 reputation 2 0 0 0