The Washington times., 1902-05-04

Sevres: on the Chapeau Mountain. near
| Chatelard Hautes Alpes: near Presles, in
| Savoy, and in few other places. In
| Germany 1t is reported In the Hartz
! Mountains. from the Siebengebirge. and
| from Frieberg. In Great Britain a few
grains of platinum have been observed in
| the gold-bearing sands of Wicklow. Ire
| land, on the Island of Jersey. and in the
sands of the River Urr. Kirkcudbright-
shire. None of these sources furnish COM
mercial platinum.
Commercial Platinum Comes From Russia
Nearly all the commercial platinum
comes from Russia, where the productive
districts lie along the eastern watershed
of the Urals. in the eastern portion OF
Perm, in Kasan, and on the western wa
tershed farther south. A few years ago
the greater part of the platinum came
from the district of Nijni-Tagilsk, nearly
due east of the city OF Perm. but now the
largest supply is obtained In the Goro-
blagodat and Bisersk districts. about 100
miles farther north and northeast OF the
town of Nijni-Tagilsk.
From the watershed of the Urals TWO
small rivers, the Iss and the Veeya, now
eastward and join the Tura River, ana
the productive platinum ground, about
1000 square miles in area. is found along
the Iss and the Veeya. and on the Tura
The platinum is found in gravel in the
placers, both in the beds OF the streams
and above water level. Platinum Is re-
ported in a number of other places in tie
Russian empire.
Platinum was found in small quantities
in Spain. near Seville, and 1t has been
found also in Borneo. in Burma. in Japan.
in New South Wales, in New Zealand, and
in Tasmania.
Productive Deposits in California.
With regard to platinum in the United
States, Prof. Kemp says that the most
productive deposits are in California. in
Trinity county. along the Trinity River,
three to four miles below Junction City;
but that the annual product amounts to
only a few ounces. He quotes from
paper by DR.. David T. Day, summarizing
the results of a careful investigation Of
the platinum resources of California.
DR.. Day says that the Pacific beach
mines OF Gold Bluff. Arcata, Big Lagoon,
Stone Lagoon, Little River. and Crescent
City. California, and of Gold Beach and
Port Oxford, Coos county, Oregon. have
all Welded platinum in commercially ap-
prcciable quantities: that most of the |
platinum product has come from inland
diggings, where the grains are compar-
atively coarse. and that II has become |
well known in the piacers q the Amer
lean River. and in Plumas. shasta, Trim |
ity. and Siskiyou counties. California. The |
Bee Gum district in Shasta county, the |
Hay Fork district in Trinity county. and !
the deposits along the Trinity from Chap |
mans mine, south OF Junction City. |
northward to beyond North Fork, are |
most promising.
The remarkable nugget OF platinum
found about 1880 near Plattsburg. n. Y,
was clearly brought. Prof. Kemp thinks, /
by the glacial drifts from the north. pos
sibly from the areas of serpentine in
Quebec north of Vermont.
Sper1ylite Found in North Carolina.
The arsenide of platinum. sperrylite.
has been found in North Carolina. and has
been traced to the mother rock. ledge
on the top of Mason Mountain. near
Franklin. in Macon county.
Prof Kemp concludes that platinum Is
very sparsely distributed In its mother
rock and that the chances Of finding it in