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998
MINERAL RESOURCES.
and gabbro. The rare mineral laurite, a sulphide of ruthenium and osmium, was discovered at this place. The locality has yielded a production of at least a few thousand ounces.
Australia.—New
South Wales contributes a few hundred ounces of platinum sands annually
from gravels at Fifield near Parks, and a small quantity is also
obtained from beach sands in some of the north coast districts. The
total production is 11,578 ounces. In 1911 the production was 470
ounces, an increase of 138 ounces compared with the production of the
previous year. Most of it came from Fifield. The shafts to bedrock are
50 to 60 feet deep and the thin pay streak on the bedrock yields 1 part
of gold to 7 parts of platinum.
The
presence of platinum in Tasmania has been known for some time, but no
production has been reported. Lately, however, iridosmine has been
reported from gravels about 20 miles from Waratah. The quantity
obtained during three months in 1910 was 38 ounces.
Russia.—About
95 per cent of the platinum in the world is derived from five districts
in the Ural Mountains of Russia. The platinum is derived from creek and
river gravels from localities in the vicinity of intrusions of
peridotite and pyroxenite in crystalline schists. Not all of these
localities are equally productive. To a considerable extent the
production is obtained from small workings by hand labor, but lately
dredges have been installed which are able to handle the poorer grades
of materials. The average yield is said to be about 0.07 ounce per
metric ton of gravel. The washings are both on the European and on the
Asiatic side of the range. The largest production comes from the
southern Verchotur district, in which the production of 1911 was
121,300 ounces, representing an increase of about 10,000 ounces over
1910. The adjoining northern Verchotur district produced 11,375 ounces.
In the Perm district the production during 1911 was 46,873 ounces. The
output in the Ekaterinburg districts was small, as was that of the
Tcherdinsk district.
The
official figures of the production for 1911 are 180,400, but it is well
known that the actual production is considerably higher. It is
estimated to 300,000 ounces. The production of iridosmine according to
official figures is about 60 to 70 ounces per annum, but this probably
represents only a small fraction of the actual production of this rare
mineral.
The official and the estimated actual production in Russia since 1900 are as follows:
Production of platinum in Russia, in fine ounces.
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