Ch. 2: Platinum in 1916

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	14 MINERAL RESOURCES, 1916----PART I.

	Platinum has also been found in some masses of ironstone at Darling Creek and Mulga Springs, near Broken Hill. The mode of occurrence has not yet been determined, though it is thought that the metal is associated with arsenic in the form of sperrylite.¹ Most of the platinum produced in New South Wales has come from alluvial washings at Fifield and Platina, in the central part of the Province. The pay gravels,² 6 to 13 inches thick, rest on shales and sandstones of Silurian and Devonian age, which are cut by diorite. The producing area is about 1 mile long by 60 to 150 feet wide. It has an overburden of 10 to 70 feet. Water is scarce in the district and the gravels can be worked only part of the year. The crude platinum is said to be 75 per cent platinum metals and an analysis shows the following: Analysis of crude platinum, Fifield, New South Wales.

	Platinum........................ 75. 90 Iridium......................... 1. 30 Rhodium........................ 1. 30 Palladium...................... Trace. Osmiridium..................... 9. 30 Iron............................. 10.15	Copper...........................41 Gold........................... None. Lead........................... Trace. Silica.......................... 1.12
		99.48

	Of late years the production from this district has been greatly diminished and it is probable that, unless the greatly enhanced price in 1916 has led to the working of gravels at lower grade, the production will be very small. A report of the New South Wales Geological Survey for 1915³ estimates that at present 200 acres of shallow plati-niferous ground could be worked if sufficient water were available. The same report gives the total production of platinum from New South Wales, since the first exploitation of the Fifield gravels in 1894 and including the output of 56 ounces in 1915, as 13,732 troy ounces, valued at £34,750 ($168,873.50). QUEENSLAND. Small quantities of platinum are known to occur with tinstone, monazite, and gold in the beach sands at the southeastern border of Queensland. So far as can be learned, little platinum has been saved from these deposits, owing not only to their low tenor but also to the great difficulty of separating the small flakes of this metal from the great quantity of heavy concentrates obtained by washing these gravels. RUSSIA. The British consul at Ekaterinburg reported in October" that the estimated production of platinum in Russia during 1916 was between 100 poods (52,664.51 ounces) and 120 poods (63,197.41 ounces). This decrease of 33 per cent is attributed to the scarcity of laborers and the difficulty oi obtaining parts for the dredges. ¹ Mingay, J. C. H., Chemical notes on lode material from Broken Hill containing copper, nickel, platinum, and platinoid metals: New South Wales Geol. Survey Rec, vol. 8, pt. 4, pp. 287-292,1909. ² Jaquel, J. B., Report on the occurrence of platinum at Fifield: New South Wales Dept. Mines and Agr. Ann. Rept. for 1895, pp. 181-183,1896. ³ New South Wales Dept. Mines and Agr. Ann. Rept. for 1915, p. 59,1910. * British (Govt.) Board of Trade Jour., Oct. 26, 1916; Commerce Repts., Nov. 18, 1916; Eng. and Mm. Jour., vol. 102, p. 1113,1916.

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