The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1918-07-18
ROMANCE IN STORY
Of nWHITEM METAL
Spies Now Risk Lives For Plati.
mum, Once Thrown Away
as Waste.

WG&GtAEeTE YaE3F
as Waste.
Washington, d. C.-New chapters in
b romance OF platinum, once thrown
away as waste but now h most
sought after metal In the world, have
been written since the war began. Ma
TONS are fighting for 1t. Adventures
are risking their lives to obtain It.
are playing the game of International
intrigue to control even an ounce OF
noble metal" as 1t is known to
biologists, so valuable has 1t become
n SO necessary to the prosecution Of
the world war.
The United States government re-
Gently took a hand in the game by
communicating all unworked platinum
IN this country. setting therefore a
price or $105 an ounce q compared.
with s22.Sb 10 years ago. Even this
action, however, has not obtained suf-
ncient of@tlie metal for war purposes.
Officials who failed to heed the warn
ings OF platinum experts at the begin
ming of h war are wondering how
they can retrieve their error in not
vigorously meeting the national ne
cessity by using every legitimate means
TO obtain platinum. The total amount
OF known platinum throughout the
world is only 1000 900 ounces. of which
about ~one-fourth lis IN the United
States. Much Of that is virtually irre-
claimable through use in dental work
and personal jewelry, and the output,
since the Russian debacle. has fallen
to Q fraction of what it was in times
Of peace.
It is the last reason which Is giving
officials so much concern. Russia has
been the source OF most of the worlds
platinum and, in 1918. was credited
with q production of 250,000 Troy
ounces, Clumbia with 1t, 900; New
South Wales and Tasmania, United
States (Californ1a and Oregon being
almost the only producing states) only
483; Borneo n Sumatra, 200, and
Canada, so.
The German invasion of Russia gave
the enemy the opportunity of replenish-
Ing his stocks Of platinum, to the detri-
virtually has ceased now, even If the
metal could be shipped out of the
country, and the whole world looks to
| Columbia for platinum. Suggestions
for government monopoly OF platinum
have been advanced in the Columbian
the fortunes of war will mean wealth
for the southern republic.
One Of the most spectacular feats OF
the war was the concentration Of 20,000
ounces of platinum in Russia by q
| young American mining engineer, at
LaCI6Q TO Tie eIlpdSSy there wiz AS
cognized the Importance of obtaining
the metal. Each precious brick,
wrapped in a leather cover, was brought
half way across the world to the United
States and turned over to the govern.
ment for use in the manufacture OF
%sulphuric acid, q constituent OF ex-
plosives, for the manufacture OF con-
tact points In electrical apparatus and
other uses necessary to war. An inter
esting history of platinum is given by
the Latin-American division OF the
Bureau Of Foreign and Domestic COM
merce.
Platinum was uncovered In what is
now Columbia in 1875, by a Spaniard
named Don Antonio de Ulloa, who ac-
companied a French scientific ex-
petition, and his account Of it was the
first information regarding the metal
Europeans. Its resistability to acids
and the difficulty of working it were re-
marked upon, but it was not considered
to be nearly as precious as gold. and
was used at times by counterfeiters
as a basis for coins. 1t was not until
the middle Of the 10Th century that the
demand for platinum for use in chemi-
cal laboratories and for electrical uses
brought its value up to the point where
It ranked as one Of the most precious
metals.
In the placer mining of gold in
! SSluIAlpld ~ ~ LII OW AWAY
as waste, and when the rise IN price
made it more valuable han gold the
ground on which the waste had been
thrown became in it's turn a field for
mining operations, and even the streets
of the principal center of gold refining
in Columbia, Quibdo. were torn up and
the soil washed for particles OF the
new treasure. One man tore down his
store in order to get at the ground
beneath, and ound so much platinum
that he was enabled to rebuild and
make an extra $4,000 for his trouble.
Platinum IS recovered principally from
the beds Of streams, the particles nav
ing been deposited there through ero-
sion of large rocks, classified g%eologi-
cally as tertiary conglomerates." The
platinum grains are found with gold,
the proportion varying from S to so
per cent of platinum. The two metals
are recovered by washing the sand and
gravel of streams. The marked rise in
the price Of platinum in the last two
or three years a considerably stimu-
lated mining activities in Columbia, es-
pecially on the part of the native min
ers. Present imports Of Columbian
platinum by the United States repre-
sents almost the total visible exports
Of that country.
Paper Bullets Paraiyzed.