Late
in 1918 the price paid locally for Tasmanian osmiridium was reported at
£14 to £15 an ounce, but apparently it rose during the summer so that
as much as £33 an ounce was reported as paid during the later part of
1919. Tasmanian osmiridium has apparently been purchased on a very
irregular basis. It would seem that purchases based on iridium content
might be more satisfactory, as the iridium content of the osmiridium
from various localities ranges from 33 to 58 per cent.
The
principal osmiridium fields are on Savage Eiver, Jones Creek, Mount
Stewart, and Wilson River, in northwestern Tasmania. The Mount Stewart
field was discovered in 1917 and much rich ground was worked out.
Deposits in Castro Valley appear to hold considerable promise. Work in
this field is limited to the winter season, when water is available.
The Savage River district can be worked only in the dry period of
summer.
An investigation of the osmiridium fields of Tasmania is planned for 1920 by the Geological Survey of Tasmania.
BRITISH GUINEA (PAPUA).
Brown 8
states in his report that the placers of Papua (British New Guinea) may
outrival the Tasmania placers as producers of osmiridium. Little
detailed information is available concerning the geology of Papua,
though it is known that there is much serpentine on the island and that
osmiridium has been found in the gold placers of the Lakekama district
and the Yodda Valley. Labor is scarce in Papua, and living conditions
are not of the best. It would appear that this is a possible source of
iridium which should be investigated in view of the present shortage of
this very necessary metal.
REFERENCE WORKS ON PLATINUM.
The
attention of those who are interested in the platinum industry should
be called to two works of unusual value recently issued.
Dr.
Louis Duparc, the noted European authority on platinum, has prepared an
elaborate work on the geology, mining, and metallurgy of the platinum
metals. This work, "Le platine et les gites platini-f eres de l'Oural
et du monde," from the press of the Societe anonyme des Editions
"Sonor," 46 rue du Strand, Geneva, Switzerland, was to have been ready
March 1, 1920, though the writer has not yet seen it in the United
States. Undoubtedly Duparc's book will be well worth close study, for
it represents the life work of an eminent scientist who has had ample
opportunity to study his subject.
Dr. James Lewis Howe, of Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Va., has brought his earlier bibliography 9
up to date. Happily the United States Geological Survey was privileged
to publish this valuable reference book as Bulletin 694. This work will
be particularly valuable to those who are interested in the chemistry
of platinum metals, for it includes references to papers dealing with
every phase of the platinum industry, wherever published, as well as
author and subject indexes.
'Brown, Campbell, op. clt.
.'Bibliography of the metals of the platinum group, 1748-189?: Smithsonian Misc. Coll. 1804,1897.
