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MINERAL RESOURCES, 1913----PART I.
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Colombia,
he states that without doubt a larger quantity of platinum was exported
via Buenaventura, the outlet of the Province of San Juan.
GERMANY.
About
the close of the year 1913 a report was widely circulated that platinum
had been discovered in Meuden, Westphalia, in the region previously
well known for its deposits of other metals. It was stated that over a
territory of 500 acres borings had shown the presence of from 1 to 2
ounces of platinum to the cubic yard. The investigations of some of the
platinum refineries, including analyses by them, are reported as
failing to show profitable quantities of platinum, and further
verifications of the rumor have not been received.
USES.
So
long as the price of platinum remains at the present high mark it is
not probable that its uses will be much extended. It is a question of
maintaining the sale of all the platinum for the uses to which it is
now put rather than of seeking to apply platinum to other uses covered
at the present by other materials.
The
decreased use of platinum for electric-light bulbs has been practically
compensated by the increased use of platinum for jewelry. This has
developed into a definite and apparently permanent form of ornament,
and the sales of platinum for that purpose are steadily increasing.
The
use of platinum sponge and of platinum black as a catalyzer is
extending steadily with the increased manufacture of sulphuric acid,
and there is prospect of the use of this material, in spite of its
price, for many other applications of chemical action involving
catalysis. The platinum sponge is more frequently used thoroughly mixed
with asbestos fiber, in order to spread the platinum over greater
surface. The relative permanency of platinum, as compared with nickel
and other metals, is greatly in favor of this more expensive metal.
Great
activity has been shown in chemical research, in regard to the
properties of the metals of the platinum group, especially by Sir
William Crookes,1 in regard to the volatility of platinum
and other metals of the platinum group when used in resistance
furnaces, and interesting studies have also been made in the
photoelectric properties of thin films of platinum.
In the use of platinum, improvements have been recorded by F. A. Gooch and W. L. Burdick,2
in regard to using films of platinum deposited on glass in the place of
costly massive platinum in electrolytic analysis. The action of
platinum metals as catalyzers has been advanced by the work of many
chemists, particularly in the hydro-genation of various substances.
ALUED METALS.
Iridium.—The
price of iridium remains much higher than that of platinum, because of
its relative scarcity and its usefulness in hardening platinum, as
described in previous reports. It is necessary for
1 Royal Soc. London Proa, vol. 86A, pp. 461-477.
2 Am. Jour. Sci., 4th ser., vol. 34, pp. 107-112, 1912.
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