Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1913-01-09
SAVING PLATINUM
A Little Drama Enacted In Uncle
Sans Assay Offices.
SCIENCE IN THE STAR ROLE.

Even the United States government
has become possessed of the present
day fever to eliminate any waste and
stop leaks in the methods Of doing
things. The results. particularly In
the mints and assay Offices. have been
remarkable.
For instance. the old method of ex.
tracing gold from baser metals when
1t came from the mint consisted merely
OF treating the smelter bars of gold
with nitric acid. which dissolved out
the baser metals. leaving the gold with
small percentage OF impurities that
could be removed by fuslng with inter.
Germany went the United States one
better In this. The professors over
there, men whose genius for scientific
detail IL unsurpassed by those of any
other nation, perfected process for
refining by electricity. Simply stated,
IL In nothing more nor less than electric
plating. The smelter bars are placed
In the plating bath, and the gold Is de-
posted In an absolutely pure state
leaving the base metals behind in sou-
ton.
1t was this residue that interested
the high brow professors The fact
that platinum Is frequently found with
gold has been recognized ever since
the science Of metallurgy was in swnd-
ding clothes; also the fact that gold
and platinum have one quality in com
mon-i. e., that no single acid known
will dissolve them. 1t takes comb
nation OF nitric and muriatic acids to
get either of these two metals In solu
ton. Silver. on the other hand Is
readily soluble In nitric acid. No one
ever thought of testing n nitric acid
solution OF silver for the presence of
platinum because Of the theory, sound
as religion. that platinum could not be
dissolved by nitric acid Therefore, II
was argued. II there wasn't enough
silver In tn, solution to make 1t worth
while to extract 1t. then. of course
there could not be any platinum. so
into the sewer II went
The professors began to experiment
At the first step they uncovered the
dusky gentleman In the wood pile.
They discovered curious fact-name-
iy. that. while platinum alone was not
soluble In nitric acid. some of it's al
Toys with silver were soluble. For
instance, Il composition OF 3 per cent
platinum In silver Is readily soluble
Right there was the clew leading to the
discovery that for years out OF mem
DRY untold quantities of the precious
metal, essential above all others In
electrical manufactures, had been run
ming into the sewer. All solutions were
carefully tested Salts Of iron were
added, precipitates supposedly of silver
were Analysed. and since then plati-
mum Mt the rate of $4,000 month has
been offered for sale by Uncle Sam.
1t Is interesting to trace the sources
of this gold In that the facts suggest
that sooner or later deposits OF plati-
mum In large quantities are going to
be found, Little of the gold coming
from the western United states and
Alaska contains platinum. 1t Is found
almost entirely In the gold mined I'm
Mexico and South America. Gold from
these districts Is coming In larger
quantities year after year 1t is found.
for instance. In what is popularity
known as Guinea gold. Guinea gold
has peculiar luster all its own. 1t Is
highly priced In the jewelry trade for
this same peculiar color.
Thopa n rA ua ~ ann,hna
In South America that. filled with
miasmlc swamps and lurid savages
armed with poisoned arrows, have so
far resisted the advance of the white
man, 1t seems not too much to expect
that sooner or later. when these dis
tricts are exploited. platinum In large
quantities win be discovered Some
Bret Harte Is probably a -borning now
to sing the romance of Platinum gulch
The romance of gold is founded on the
material consideration Of $20.67 an
ounce, which the governments OF the
earth have decreed must be Its price
now and for evermore, They will
have to build second story exten
sion on the romance of the metal that
Is worth twice as much us gold
Now that Uncle Sam Is finding this
mine of platinum In the supposedly I'M
alleged bars that the big refining com
panies are sending in from their smelt-
ars. the interesting question is arising,
Who owns the platinum. Uncle sam or
the retincries? Uncle sam bought thei"
gold, refined II for them nj cost aud
paid them dollar for dollar out of hin
pocket. Actually he was out on the
transaction Now that he has stopped
the leak In his drainpipe. he is Il little
ahead.
Naturally. II one can play ut n game
two can play at the same game. Some
OF the bigger smelter companies. whose
output Is sufficient. have undertaken
the task OF recovering this platinum
themselves. II Uncle sam can help out
his payroll with platinum residues
there Is no reason why Il privately con
Quoted smelter cannot do the same
thinv n tb., electrical Of