j Tales From the Hills !
PLATINUM.
By Albert S.' Wilkerson instructor in Geology and Mineralogy, Alaska
Agricultural College and School of Mines.
“Thsic’slthe kind I am going to buy
the next; time,” murmured Larry, as
he stiidledta cast-off catalogue. “Yes,,
that’s vtw..kind for me. Nothing will
be too;godd for that dear one of mf
heart.”
“Forget that darn dog of yours,
Larrf. Now* I sdppose that you are
■ thinking of bpying her a nice dia
mond-studded collar,” sarcastically
came'fr om Jack.
“I am not thinking of the dog this
time. Jack. ■ I am thinking of the time
my #i'i returned my ring. This time
I am going to buy her a platinum ring
. and she will like it so much'that she
will-tike me with the ring. This is
some time off, however.”
“You know, Jask, every time that I
see tap thing about platinum I think
of the story told me some years ago.
It seems that some years ago severa
Americans paid a profitable visit to
Russia, or to be more exact, to the
Urals. These men visited many homes,
and when they were about to leave
the country they went around and
bought all the stovepipes that some of
the people had. And, naturally, they
bought them very cheap. Well, the
Americans knew that a large percent
• age of the metals in the stovepipe was
. platinum. I suppose that the country
people knew that platinum was in the
pipes, but did not know its vaue. But !
the Americans did. At that time plat-1
inumc platinum was not at its present
high price, because its uses were not
well known.”
“Sounds good, if true. Sounds good
even if not true,” said Jack, as he
waited for Larry to continue. He
1 knew that Larry was in a .talkative
mood and that he might as well allow
' him-ito run his course. They had lived
together a long time and thus Jack
i learned to recognize his partner’s
moods in advance.
"You know,” continued Larry, “that
platinum is much in demand today. It
is now worth about $68 an ounce, and
; about: $78 an ounce if refined. And
the rprice will be coming up soon
. agart again. Only a few months ago
it was. worth around $11)0 an ounce, j
“Platinum was first used as an
. adulterant of gold, and in Russia it
was used for coinage for a number of
years. Now it' is used for crucibles
and other chemical apparatus which
are subjected to high temperatures or
very strong acids. It is also employed
in dentistry, for electric lamps and
electric apparatus, in photography,
for jewelry, and some other things
that I cannot now think of.”
“Is platinum ever found in the na
tive state as gold is?” inquired Jack.
“That is about the only way it is
found, Jack,” answered Larry. “It is
the ony way it c>>mes so far as com
mercial quantities are concerned.
Commercial quantities are the only
quantities that I like to talk about.
Yes, platinum is found as pure plat
inum, just as gold is found as pure
gold. It is commonly found in placer
deposits, but its original home is in
association with chronite in peridot
ites, or in serpentines derived from
the peridotites. In the Urals the
‘mother’ rock was a dunite orolivine j
rock. Usually the original hdme is
rather poor. In the Urals the dunite i
contained platinum averaging only a
grain or less per cubic yard of the j
fresh rock. In Nevada it has been |
found in quartz veins, while in Su- j
matra it occurs in a contact-metamor- j
phic deposit. Most of the world’s j
supply of p'atinm is obtained from;
placers, however. It is taken out by
dredging to ;t large extent, the same
as gold. With platinum are always,
found othen members of the ‘platinum i
famiy;’ wufchr as palladium, iridim, os
-ipium, fettf '
"“Does platinum ever occur in veins.
other than the quartz-veins you men
tioned?” inquired Jack.
“Platinum is contained in certain
nickel deposits, as at. Sudbury, On
tario; in copper veins, as. at Butte,
Montana, and else where;, also in cer
tain veins in which: gold isi associated
with copper and other base metals. In
these the platinum . minerals occur
only in minute quantities unrecogniz
able in assays of the ores and deteet
ed only and recovered in the final re
fining of copper and nicke, or of gold
bullion. Platinum contributed scarce
ly at all to the commercial value of
such ores, and no deposit of this type
has ever been worked, for the plat
inum alone. It is erratically and dis
continuously distributed in some
dikes. High asays from specimens
are obtainabe from some of these
dikes, and for that reason these oc
currences have repeatedly created
temporary excitement at different
times, hut platinum has never been
found in commercial quantities in
them. No, as I said.before, if you
want platinum you must find it con
centrated ip placers if iyou-want it in
commercial quantities.”
“Is there not platinum being mined
from dikes in South. iAfnoa?” Jack
continued to inquire of his talkative,
partner.
“A few years ago,”,a.hswered Larry,!
after a moment’s reflection and after I
lighting his pipe for ffc- tenth time, j
“a few years ago patiiium was found j
in South Africa, as you state. The
occurrence of this comparatively rare
metal is in the Transvaal. Years be
fore, its presence was iatected in the
heavy residue from the stamp mills
that crushed gold ore. iSome of the
ore assays at the rate of ounces per
ton, but the distribution of the metal
is extremely irregular. ..Accore
granite is surrounded by a band
norite, a variety of gabhrg,..and in this
norite, platinum is found in in three
types of deposits—namely, (1) pipes
or lenses of dunite or olivine rock, (2)
in an extensive band of norite, and
(3) in alluvium derivpd from the ero
sion of the primary depoiits just men
tioned. The occurrence of the meta
in part of the district is unusual in so
far as it is associated .directly rot
with an ultra-basic eruptive but with
quartz in a fault-fissure traversing
sandstone and felsite. How rich some
of the impregnations are is indicated
by the fact that, for example, one
mine of dunite, 44 by 75 feet, assayed
two ounces per ton at a depth of 72
feet. Particles of crystalline platinum
as big as the head of a match have
been found in this ore. Yes, indeed,
Jack, these lode deposits are being
worked as well as the placers.
“Russia and Columbia are the main
producers—comes from placers, too.
In the United States there is small
production in California and Oregon
and a couple of other states. Alaska
has produced some platinum. On Dime
creek, in the Seward Peninsula coun
try, it has been found, but the larger
part of metals was palladium recov
ered from a copper lode on. Kassan
Peninsula, in the Ketchikan district.
Recently some platinum was recovered
from Goodnews bay, at the mouth of
the Kuskokwim.
of
of
“In the gold pan, platinum appears
i like grains of native silver. In color
it varies from a silver whits to dark
! or even black. It is heavier than sil
ver or gold and it is.'as soft as copper.
In diamond drilling or churn drilling,
I’ve seen the panners get excited.and
think that there was patinum in the
drill slugs, but these finds .are gen
erally fragments of steel worn off the
bits. A magnet test-. will decide the
matter or, if there is any doubt, the
suspected substance should be fboiled
in nitric or hydrochloric acid. Plat.-1
ir.um is unaffected by these acids, but
steel or silverwilrapidlydissolve.”
Jack interrupted with: “I under
stand that the Salt Chuck mine, near
Ketchikan, was originally a copper
mine and that they shipped the copper
ore to tte smelter for some time be
fore platinum and palladium were dis
covered in the ore. Now possibly we
mightrhave platinum in our ore and,
if so, how are.we going to know?”
“There, you go, Jack,” said Larry
with a hearty laugh. “Every pros
pector believes there must be plati
num in his ore, and if. the assayer
doesn’t lnd it, ■ he will try them all.
When the assayer makes afire absay
for the gold and silver in our ore he
will, if he is. a skilful man,-watch the
iustre of the silver-gold head which
he secures. If there is platinum pres -
ent in important, amounts the gold
silver bead will, .present a frosty lus
tre. Another thing 1 remember is
that if you have the green mineral—
olivine^as a gangue i nyour ore you
should always send samples for plat
inum tests.
“A simple test to ..detect the pres
ence of platinum is,:to dissolve the
substance in a mixture of three parts
of hydrochloric acid to one part of
nitric acid. .Then to this add a solu
tion of ammonium chloride, and if
platinum is present, small yellow crys
tals will form.”
“I must write to our assayer and
warn him to look out for platinum irv
our ore; and, Larry, do you want me
to write about that l ing for your girl
at the same time?”
Larry’s aim was poor, for the big
catalogue missed.Jack’s ear b ya mar
gin of one-sixteenth of an inch.
A Sickly Child.
She was a dear old lady, nearing her
06th birthday, and the recent decease
of her daughter, a spinster of 70-odd
summers, had prostrated her with
grief.
Many were the messages of sym
pathy she received from people in the
village.
The vicar called personally to offer;
his condolence and help her to bear up!
bravely, but the old lady was incon- ;
soluble.
“Ah,” she moa»'ed 'wearily ,“‘cul off j
like a flower she were! I alius knew |
I’d never be able to gear that gal!”
Are you a Kusko Times subscriber 7;
Why not"' *
NOTICE OF -HEARING OF ’FINAL
ACCOUNT.
Notice is hereby given that the un
dersigned has filed his final report and
account as administrator de bonis non
of the estate of Joe Kermond, de
' ceased, and that such report will be
heard and considered by the Probate
Judge of Otter Precinct, Fourth Divi
sion of Alaska, at his office at Flat,
Alaska, on the 10th day of June A. I).
| 1829,. at the hour of two o’clock in ..the
1 afternoon of said day.
All persons having objections to
such report may be heard at said time
and place.
CHARLES E. TAYLOR.
Administrator de bonis non Es
tate of Joe -Kermend, deceased
tate of Joe Kermond, deceased.
! First pub., March SO, 1929.
TABLE OF DISTANCES BE
TWEEN NENANA AND FLAT
Wiles
Nenana ... 00
Tavern Roadhouse . 17%
Knight’s Roadhouse . 11%
Nineteen-Mile Roadhouse . 58
Diamond Roadhouse.76
Roosevelt .. 80
Lake Minchumina .... 11E
Trappers’ Cabin ... 132
Lone- Star Roadhouse .. 150
Telida Roadhouse . 169% I
Slow Fork Roadhouse . .... 187
East Fork Roadhouse .) 206
Berry’s Landing Roadhouse . 227%
Big River Roadhouse.241 I
McGrath ... 268
Takotna . 280
Bill Goss’ Roadhouse .. .291
Ophir. %. 300
McCafferty .. 306
Brown Creek shelter cabin.318
Fritz shelter cabin . 333
First Chance shelter cabin . 346
SchermeyervE. H. 360
Iditarod . 376
Flat . 384
Bonanzza shcler cabin, 12 miles
from Flat.
Crooked Credk shelter cabin, 19
miles from Bonanza. i
Babeesch Moosehide Mitts and Boots
Furs Bcragfrt and Sold Clothing
All Kinds of Nice Fresh Groceries and Fruit"
Canned Goods of Alt Kinds Beds and Bedding
A R. Ekfridge - McGrath
mmmmmmmtmmmmmmmmtammmmmmmmmmmmmmam
TAKOTNA ROADHOUSE
Best of Meals and Rooms
Where Everything Is Homelike and
Where You Are Cordially Welcomed
GOOD DOG HOUSES BATHS
Ivar ChH strom - Prop.
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