Ch. 2: Platinum in 1918

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	208 MINERAL, RESOURCES, 1918----PART I. TASMANIA. There was considerable activity in osmiridium mining in the northwestern districts of Tasmania during 1918. About 200 men were engaged in the work, and it is reported that some of the more fortunate miners were making as much as £20 a week.¹ In 1918 the osmiridium recovered by these workers amounted to 810.6 ounces, as compared with 218.2 ounces in 1917. The average price paid for crude osmiridium in the Tasmanian markets during 1918 was £20 7s. ($98.90) an ounce, the highest point, £37 7s. 6d. ($181.62) an ounce, being reached just before the armistice was signed, but after that time the price broke to £15 ($72.90) an ounce. USES OF PLATINUM. Under the rather close control of the use o£ platinum metals in the United States in 1918 the consumption by the industries was not the same as in years of unrestricted use. According to reports of refiners and dealers who sold platinum in 1918 the electrical and chemical industries consumed approximately 66 per cent of the platinum metals used, the dental industry 17 per cent, and the jewelry industry 12 per cent. Platinum metals used in the United States in 1918 by consuming industries, in troy ounces.



	Prior to the war, when the average annual consumption of platinum metals in the United States was about 165,000 ounces, it was estimated that the jewelry and dental industries used 75 per cent of the platinum metals consumed, the electrical industry 20 per cent, and the chemical industry 5 per cent. It is therefore evident that during our time of need in 1918 the ratio of consumption by the several industries was quite reversed. Pure platinum is required for chemical work of all sorts, but for other uses the iridium alloys are used. Electrical platinum contains 15 to 50 per cent of iridium but averages 25 per cent, and jeweler's platinum carries about 10 per cent of iridium. Palladium, another of the platinum group of metals, is also of importance, chiefly in the form of palladium-gold alloys, which can be used to replace platinum in dental products and jewelry. Rhodium, one of the rarer members of the platinum group, has a limited use in electric pyrometers. Osmium and ruthenium, the remaining members of the platinum group, appear to have little use, though osmium, when properly

	¹ Industrial Australian and Mining Standard, vol. 60, Dec. 19 and 26,1918.

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