Ashland weekly tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1919-1924, 1921-09-14
Southern Oregon Mineral Mecca
Rare Finds Ast0niSh Experts
By A. Z. KELLOG.

] was pul IttlC attOhhioh paw
tothe production of platinum in this
region until the late war began. The
United States government, with the
interruption of the normal importap
tion of the metal from the Ural
mountains in Russia, made q special
effort to discover and develop the
platinum throughout this region.
The geologists Of the United States
mineral survey early in the war de-
voted over three months to this
work. They visited practically every
hydraulic placer mining district in
Southern Oregon and In Northern
California
In nearly every district visited by
these geologists, they found. that
prior to their coming practically no
attention was paid to the recovery
of this rare metal by the hydraulic
miners OF the region. The miners,
after recovering the metal, had Of
ten discarded 1t without knowing
what it was, or kept 1t for a time as
a curiosity, only to throw 1t away
when ready market was not avail
able. These experts. after making
thorough search in this mineral
zone, found nothing that interested
them more than the percentage of
Platinum to be found in almost all
placer diggings of this region.
There is but little doubt that
from the early days Of placer min
ing In Southern Oregon, more values
in platinum went through the sluice
boxes, than were ever taken out in
gold" were the words expressed by
the government experts after max
ing the survey.
Similar to California
Platinum, like chrome in this re-
gion, is closely associated with SER
pentine. The native alloy in platt
mum, iridium and assium, in which
the platinum is found in nearly all
of the gravel deposits of this region
in which gold is found, as in the
Ural mountains Of Europe and de.
rived from the serpentlne of the re-
gion. That is, they are believed to
be the primary constituents Of the
ingenious rock, which have altered to
serpentine.
It is believed that the ultimate
source of the gold placers in this
region, like those of California, Is
in the serpentine and the olivine
bearing rocks of the Sierra Neyadas
J and tributary ranges, which are in
portion of the drainage basins OF
the streams.
The source of platinum in the
placer works Of this region, has but
in few instances, been traced to lode
deposits containing the metal in the
native form. A roughness of the
: platinum, and In some specimens, a
black or brownish coating. which Is
) apparently iron oxide, indicate pr0x-
unity to its source.
In the Riddle Quadrangle, in this
region, the serpentines have resulted
t chiefly from the decomposition Of the
| peridotites and the pyroxenites, but
: some areas of the serpentine are In
$ all probability the result Of the de-
4 composition of the basic phases oi
( the greensboro. Much Of this serpen-
3 tine shows shear zones and slick
t ensides surfaces.
: Many OF the miners in prospecting
' for platinum, had difficulty in deter
n mining whether or not the black
q sands OF the region contained the
metal and at other times confusing
1t with silver In some placer depos'
its, the grains of the platinum are
coated with dark film and some re-
semble the grain of the dark chro'
mite, magnetic, or ilmenite, and In
4 panning 1t was confusing to the min
] er. 1t was during the war time WISH
OF the government experts in this
region that they fully demonstrated
b to the miner, and now most Of the
= placer miners are we'll versed In the
o detection of the presence of the met
t al. The sodium-M Mercury amalgam l:
g the principal agent of gathering the
g flour fold and platinum Jointly In
It the placers OF this region.
g bikes Of Dark Rock
9 The great serpentine dikes, ex
s tending from siskiyou County, Cali
: fornla, first makes its appearance II
d Oregon in the Upper Applegate dis
o trict. This district is occupied in
}. large part by old Palezioc sedimen
@ tary rock, with interbedded sill
d and flows of andestite character II
n places these bedded rocks are pene
l. trated by dikes OF dirk ingenou
" rocks and also large irregular masses
y OF tonalite. The sediments in genera
strike about N. 20 degrees E.. ant
dip at a high angle to the eastward