WYOMING.
The
Eambler mine, near Holmes, Albany County, Wyo., was operated during the
entire year by the Platinum Mining & Milling Co. Several hundred
tons of copper concentrates carrying platinum and palladium were
produced and were refined in Eastern plants.
FOREIGN.
CANADA.
British Columbia.—In
the Tulameen district tributary to Revel-stoke there appears to have
been more placer mining during the latter part of 1915 than for some
time, owing to the high price of platinum.1 The Canadian Department of Mines2
gives an output of 20 ounces of platinum for 1915, but it is believed
that part of the territorial output finds its way into the hands of
American refiners and that the production was larger; in fact it is
believed that approximately 100 ounces of crude platinum from this
district were refined in the United States.
Ontario.—As
is well known, the Sudbury nickel-copper ores carry both platinum and
palladium, which are recovered as by-products in the electrolytic
refining of the blister copper. The refining has up to the present been
done in the United States, but the International Nickel Co., owners of
both mines and refinery, are reported to have agreed to erect a
refinery in Canada. It has recently been reported that a workable
deposit of platinum has been discovered in Munro Township, in the
northern part of Ontario.3
COLOMBIA.
According
to figures compiled by the United States vice-consul at Cartagena,
10,046 troy ounces of crude platinum were invoiced at that port and 74
troy ounces at Barranquilla for shipment to the United States in 1915.
It is known also that at least one large company—which ships by way of
Buenaventura—was a producer in 1915, but no definite information of
this company's output is available for publication. From the best
information available to the Survey it is estimated that 18,000 troy
ounces were produced in Colombia in 1915.
Dr.
Tulio Ospina, director, of the School of Mines, Medellin, Colombia, in
a paper before the Second Pan American Scientific Congress, Washington,
D. C, January 3, 1916, outlined the geologic relations of the platinum
deposits of his country. According to him the gold-platinum alluvial
deposits cover an area of more than 5,000 square miles, which lies west
of the central ridge of the Colombian Andes, in the Atratro and San
Juan drainage basins, and extends south of the mouth of San Juan River
along the coast to Mira River. The richest deposits and those most
worked in the past are near the headwaters of San Juan River,
principally on Condoto Riyer. The platinum is found in greatest
abundance in the present stream channels, but it is also found in
conglomerates of Tertiary age. The
1 Canada Min. Jour., vol. 36, pp. 737-8, December, 1915.
2 Preliminary report on the mineral production of Canada, p. 15, Canada Dept. Mines, 1915.
3 Eng. and Min. Jour., vol. 101, p. 161, Jan. 15,1916.
45829°—m e 1915—pt 1------10
