The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1922-05-11
LANCASTER MAY SOLVE
Bis PLATINUM PROBLEM
HAS SUPPORT OF MELLON iNsTl-
TUTE AND MINING DEPART
MENT OF OREGON.

-'N ~ Oh6OONs
Henry Nj. Lancaster. mining engi
neer. for many years resident of tn
Occur d'Alene district, is in the city
having returned last week from Grant
Pass, Oregon, where he has been Civ
ing his attention the past few months
to the platinum resources of that sec
ton of the state. Having secured ;
large tract in Josephine county cover.
ing vein which was represented a,
carrying values in platinum rangins
from trace up to 3 ounces per ton
he proceeded to Grants Pass for the
purpose of making personal investiga
tons and if justified to devise methods
of treatment of the ore About this
time considerable publicity was given
to charges that fake platinum assays
had grown to be quite an established
industry in Grants Pass. that it provid %
ed meal tickets" for a bunch of as
sayers who never failed to find plati-
mum in any old rock. and implying that
Mr.. Lancaster had been imposed upon
| by fictitious assay certificates. Posi-
bly, that was the purpose, and possibly
Mr.. Lancaster had the same impress
sion, but he has been to long engaged
in mining to be seriously victimized by
such methods. He went to Grants
Pass and proceeded to investigate in
his own way
Promising Field for Research.
He was not long in discovering that
the possibilities of platinum produc-
ton in that section was of even greater
Importance than he had anticipated
and covered a much wider field, and
his Investigations have gone far be-
yond the original proposition. He has
made two trips to the east, taking sam
pies from his own and other deposits
to be tested in the best laboratories in
the country, and has conferred with
the bureau of mines in Washington
He has interested the Mellon Institute
of Industrial Research of the Univer-
sity of Pittsburg in his work. which
has now under consideration the ques-
ton of extending him a fellowship
commissioning him to conduct an ex-
haustive investigation of platinum re-
sources and the adaptation of process
es for the recovery of the metal. Among
the many tests made for platinum
Mr. Lancaster says the highest return
he has received was lbs ounces, which
would represent a value at the present
price of platinum of about 500 per ton
Here are some of the assays obtained:
Pittsburg Fire Brick Company: Plat
mum, O.41 ounce per ton.
Thomas J. Dee e Co, Chicago:
Gold. 011S ounce per ton; platinum.
OO1S ounce
Deavitt Laboratories Chicago: Plat
mum, O.95 ounce.
A shipment of 1874 pounds of concen-
trates by the First National Bank of
Southern Oregon, Grants Pass, to
Wilberg Bros, San Francisco, gave the |
following return: Gold, 3.166 ounces; !
silver Ala ounces; platinum, O296
ounces. Total value, $S71O.
Mr. Lancaster says that ore run
ming as low as ITO of an ounce in
platinum with the gold usually asso-
ciated with it would be a good com
mercial proposition.
Laboratory in Grants Pass
In order to facilitate his efforts in
finding platinum ore of commercial
value Mr.. Lancaster has established
in Grants Pass which ena-
oles him to make tests to determine
The presence of platinum in the rock
He is not prepared to determine the
amount of platinum, this being left for
laboratories with more perfect facili
les. He makes these tests free, with
he result that hundreds of samples
nave been sent or brought to him from
Ill over southwestern Oregon, a system
hat has enabled him to obtain valua-
de information regarding platinum
over a large area much
more effectively than he could have {
lone by personal visits. His work is {
purely experimental and has attracted
much interest among the people of
hat section and of the state bureau of {
mines and geology. 1t was evidently (
With considerable satisfaction that Mr..
lancaster exhibited letter from Hen {
y NJ Parks director of the Oregon
Bureau of Mines, commencing his
platinum research work. The letter
vas dated Portland, May s. and fol- !
ows: ,
Mr.. Parks Letter. 7
II am very glad to hear that you
ave perfected arrangements with the
dellon Institute for some extensive !
esearch work on platinum in southern ;
oregon. This is a problem that may 4
mean much to the economic develop ,
nent of our mining sections. It is
,ithal a problem of such magnitude .
hat little hope can be entertained of :
solution except by attack g
ng it on a comprehensive scale such {
s you are planning and have practi