The Nome nugget., 1903-08-08
Amount Produced Last
 Year l4O8 Ounces.
WORTH $2I AN OUNCE
And the Demand is COnStntIya lnCreasing--SOme Facts
 About Metals.

well known. Last January Capt. E. NJ.
 Cederbergh received letters of inquiry concerning Osmium and excerpts there
 from were published in THE NUGGET, and created considerable interest among miners.
 The following article on platinum, by Joseph Struthers, of the United States Geological Survey, has been kindly furnished this paper for pub lication by Capt. Cederbergh, and it will no doubt be of interest to miners and mining men ell over Seward pe- ninsula:
 "The production of platinum from domestic ores in the United States during 1901 was LAOS ounces, valued at S27, ,526, as compared with 400 ounces of crude platinum, valued at $2, 800, in 1900, a notable increase, although the total quantity so produced was but a small part of the total domestic con sumption for the year. The produc- tion during 1901 was the largest annual output on record since statistics of platinum produced from domestic ores were first compiled in 1880. The next largest output was in 1890, when coo ounces, valued at $2,500, were pro- duced. In connection with the pro duction of platinum from domestic ores during 1901 there were obtained also 2l3 ounces of iridium, a metal so close ly allied with platinum in it's proper ties that doubtless it has formed from 15 to p per cent of the reported plat mum production in early years.
 "The domestic supply of platinum in recent years has been obtained as a secondary product chiefly from gold placer deposits in Trinity and Shasta counties, California. The occurrence of the metal has been reported in many other gold placers of California, as well as in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Mon- tana and Alaska; but the deposits have not been sufficiently rich to place the of the metal on a profitable basis.
 "The mineral chromite is nearly all ways associated with platinum, and occurs in extensive serpentine forma- tions of many mountain ranges in which streams have their head, and in most deposits containing platinum in place the metal occurs with chromite through basic magnesium rock, of which serpentine is common alteration product.
 1t has been forecast as within the range of probability that platinum will be found in place associated with chromite in the basic magnesium rocks of California and Oregon as we'll as in peridotite, the basic magnesium rock of North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsyl- vania and Maryland, which frequently chromite.
 "A new occurrence of sperrylite, the platinum arsenide mineral, has been reported from Macon county, North where it occurs in minute but there has been no au. record of the occurrence of me- tallic platinum in the eastern or south ern states.
 The most noteworthy feature of the platinum industry in tho United States during 1901 was the discovery of the metal in the copper ores Ot tho Ram. bier mine, near Eneampmeut, in the Medicine Bow mountains of Albany county, WyOming. In addition to plat mum, other metals in the platinum group were present-Osmium, pal ladium and iridium. The metals are not distributed uniformly throughout the ore, some samples showing pal ladium and others platinum only, but in most cases all four were present. The platinum content of the ore varied from 006 to IA ounces per ton, and in a sample of covellite, the copper sul- phide mineral, Gus, it was as high as IF ounces. The platinum occurs in the form of sperrylite, and in all proba- bility palladium also will be found as an analogous arsenic compound. As a result of this discovery it is important to examine all copper ores for metals of the platinum group. So far the residues from the electrolytic process in a few of the largest copper retineries have failed to show the presence of the metal; yet it is to be hoped that future of platinum will be made which will tend to alleviate the present dearth of this important metal. Chrome orc deposits, also, should be examined carefully for plat mum, as this mineral is its most com mon associate. The discovery of use for osmium, which occurs to 6 consid- erable extent in the American plat mum ss the mineral osmiridium, will greatly benefit tho platinum industry of the United States, as in the past this element has interfered most seri- ously with the sale of the crude plat mum product. The demand for osmium for the new Auer incandescent electric light makes it almost as desirable as platinum.
 .The imports of platinum during