 In 1750 , after studying the platinum sent to him by Wood , Brownrigg presented a detailed account of the metal to the Royal Society , stating that he had seen no mention of it in any previous accounts of known minerals . Brownrigg also made note of platinum 's extremely high melting point and <unk> toward borax . Other chemists across Europe soon began studying platinum , including Andreas Sigismund Marggraf , Torbern Bergman , Jöns Jakob Berzelius , William Lewis , and Pierre <unk> . In 1752 , Henrik Scheffer published a detailed scientific description of the metal , which he referred to as " white gold " , including an account of how he succeeded in fusing platinum ore with the aid of arsenic . Scheffer described platinum as being less pliable than gold , but with similar resistance to corrosion . 
