Ch. 2: Platinum in 1918

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	PLATINUM AND ALLIED METALS.	205

	under the requisition order the prices of platinum metals were fixed as follows: Platinum, $105 a troy ounce; palladium, $135 a troy ounce; and iridium, $175 a troy ounce. These prices not only governed the value of refined metals but were interpreted to include the platinum-metal content of scrap materials and crude platinum. With the cancellation of the requisition order on December 1, 1918, prices advanced and sales of platinum were reported atas high as $140 an ounce, though most reports indicated that prices ranged from $105 to $110 an ounce for platinum and from $125 to $135 an ounce for palladium. A stabilizing influence on the platinum market was exerted by the Government's announcement that its stocks of platinum, amounting to several thousand ounces, would be disposed of at $105 an ounce.



	The prices reported to the United States Geological Survey by refiners of the platinum group of metals varied considerably in 1918. In the following table fair average prices are given, and these prices have been used by the Geological Survey in all computations.



	The miners of California, Oregon, and Alaska received from $54 to S98 an ounce for their crude platinum in 1918, the average price being about $91 as compared with $90 for 1917. The principal buyers of crude platinum in the United States are: American Platinum Works, Newark, N. J. Baker & Co. (Inc.), Newark, N. J. Pacific Platinum Works, Los Angeles, Calif. R. & H. Platinum Works, 100 William Street, New York, N. Y. Shreve & Co., San Francisco, Calif. Wildberg Bros., San Francisco, Calif. H. A. Wilson Co., Newark, N. J. i Eng. and Min. Jour., vol. 107, p. 76,1919.

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