Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial. (Wilmington, Del.) 1878-1928, 1918-07-06
.PLAT|N UNI, ONCE SCRAP,
NOW BEYOND PRICE
So Necessary in War That 1t Has
Become Object of lnterna-
tional Intrigue.


In the romance of platinum, once thrown
away as waste but now the most sought
after metal IN the world. have been writ
ten since the war began Nations are
bphting for II Adventurous are rIsking
thcIr hives Ia obtain II Women spies and
diplomatic agents arc playing the game
Of international intrigue 10 control even
an ounce of the noble metal rs IT IS
known to BIOLOGISTS, So valuable has u
become and 80 necessary to the prosccu-
tInn Of the world war
The nitcd states government recently
took q hand IN tho game ny commander
lnr an UNIV kcd platinum IN this country,
setting therefor a price Of sos nm ounce,
as compared with 81 81 ten years agn
Even tins action. however, has not ob-
tanned sufficient If the metal for war
PURPOSES Officials who failed to heed the
warnings of platinum experts NJ tho nc
ginning 81 the war are wondering how they
can retrieve their error IN not vigorously
meeting the national necessity hv using
ever, legitimate means 10 Obtain platinum.
Tor tho total amount Of known platinum
throughout the world ~ only 4,Un,oN
ounces, Of which about onctourth IS IN
the nltcd States Much of that IS virtual
Il Irrcciaimahlc through use IN dental
work and personal Jewclry. and the orIt-
nut since the Russian dchacs, has fallen
to q fraction Of What It was IN times OF
peace
II is tho last reason winch rs giving
officials 81 much concern Russia has
been the source Of most Of the world )
platinum and. IN 1913. was credited with
4 production Of $4,000 Troy ounces.
Columbia with $4,000. New South Wales
and Tasmania 1925. United States
California and Oregon being almost the
only producing States only iSi. lSnrnco
and Sumatra 300 and Canada 80
The German invasion of Russia gave
the enemy the opportunity Of repicnIsh-
ing his stocks Of platinum, a. the dPtri-
mcnt ~ the Allies Mining IN Russia
virtually has ceased now. even II the metal
could I've shipped ont 81 the country and
the world looks To Columbia for platinum.
Suggestions for = government monopoly
Of platinum have been advanced IN the
Columbian congress Whatever action is
taken. the fortunes Of war will mean
wealth for the southern republic
One uf the most spectacular tcats Of the
war was the concentration Of 20, 900 ounces
Of platinum in Russia hy q Young AmerI-
can mining engineer attached TO the
embassy there. who recognized the nm
partancc 81 obtaining tho metal Zach
precious brick wrapped IN q leather cover.
was brought halfway across the world To
tho nIted States and turned over t. the
government for Use III thC manufacture ot
sulphurIc aCid n constituent Of explosives,
for the manufacture ot contact points m
electrical apparatus and other uses neccS-
sary to war IN interesting history OF
platinum Is gwen bv the IatinAmerlCan
DIVISION Of the Bureau of Foreign and
Domestic Commerce.
Platinum was discovered IN what IS now
Columbia IN 1873. 10y Spanlard named
Don Antonio dc lioa. who accompanied
French scientific expedition, and his
account uf II was the first information
regarding the metal to lie brought To the
attention Of Europeans Its resIstablhty
10 acids and the difficulty Of working it
were remarked upon, but 1t was not con
sdercd to bc nearly as precious as gold,
and was used AZ times by counterfelters
AZ basis for coins. Il was not until the
middle of the nineteenth century that the
demand for platinum for use in chemical
laboratories and for electrical uses brought
its value up to the point where II ranked
as one Of the most precious metals
In the placer mining Of gold in Columbia
il was formerly thrown away as waste
and when the rise IN price made II more
valuable than gold the ground on which
the waste had been thrown became IN its
turn a field for mining operations, and
even the streets Of the principal center OF
gold refining in Columbia, Qulbdo. were
torn up aud the soil wast ed for PARTICLES
of the new treasure One man tore down
ms store in order 10 get at the ground be
Meath and found 80 much platinum that
, he was enabled 10 rebuild and make an
extra $1,000 for his trouble
Platinum Is recovered principally from
the beds Of streams, the particles having
been deposited there through erosion Of
large rocks, classified geoloQcally as
Tertiary conglomerates The platinum
grains are found with gold the proportion
varying from 5 To 30 per cent Of platinum
The two metals are recovered by washing
the sand and gravel Of streams
The marked rise IN the price Of plati-
mum in the last two or three years has
considerably stimulated mining activities
in Columbia, especially on the part Of the
native miners.
Present imports Of Columbian platinum
by the United States represents almost the
total visible exports Of that country