Platinum Yo!

[jewelerdave]

Here is a nice little bit of Platinum/Palladium flakes from the Medicine Bow Mountains

Before anyone jumps to say the M word....

Background.
1. I am a Jeweler by profession and know my metals.
2. Nitric Acid did not change it, neither did heat.
3. It took searching though over 6 troy ounces of Gold fines to come up with this tiny amount.
4. Placer Platinum has been reported int he past from this area

 

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[Eu_citzen]

Nice!

 

[AuExplorer]

You also might think of hitting the Green above flamming gorge, I have found similar material below on the Utah side, The Garnet/rubies and Diamonds are interesting as well.

 

[nebraskadad]

dave,
There are areas in the MBNF that are known for plat deposits. Dan Hausel the state geologist has a paper that outlines the geologic evidences for plats along the New Rambler fault. I get to MBNF about once a year, and do panning on Douglas creek for AU. I've thought that one might find placer plats along French Creek (which is north of the fault line.) (15N80W, 15N79W, 14N80W, 14N79W)

http://www.wsgs.uwyo.edu/metals/platinum.aspx

http://www.wsgs.uwyo.edu/viewpic.aspx?PicURL=/metals/platinum_images/PcRxloc.gif



Be careful where you go up there as portions of the townships mentioned are partly in the Savage Run Wilderness area and the FS would blow a gasket if they caught you with a sluice and pan coming out of the area.

 

[rmptr]

The problem with platinum is it takes too much heat to smelt it.

So, it can't be processed effectively unless you have a very large deposit.

..like up in wyoming where the plat mine is HUGE!

It does run with the associated minerals in various places, but only in amounts that are considered waste.

Prove me wrong. it's happened before!

R M P T R

 

[jewelerdave]

Platinum is not smelted but chemically removed and dissolved. then collected, Temp does not matter when dealing with concentrate as when you remove the metals from your solution you heat it then.
the temp does not matter when melting precipitates. Why would one try to smelt platinum from ore?
you dont smelt it, you leach it.

 

[golddigger14s]

Boy I'd hate to have to search through 6 oz of gold!

 

[aarthrj3811]

Nitric Acid did not change it, neither did heat.

You got it...I just never found enough to make it worth my time...Art

 

[spiffyman]

I just got platinum fever! A real nice find

 

[cavers5]

HMMPH! Considering the price, I'd say it was well worth the time!

Great Job!

Any recommendations as to who buys platinum from panners and what would be the spot-price?

Thanks for posting!

Cavers5

 

[rmptr]

Platinum is not smelted but chemically removed and dissolved. then collected, Temp does not matter when dealing with concentrate as when you remove the metals from your solution you heat it then.
the temp does not matter when melting precipitates. Why would one try to smelt platinum from ore?
you dont smelt it, you leach it.

Dave, my presentation was rather poor and I'd better admit it.

I was actively involved in mining in the ca desert and vicinity for a number of years.
Most the gold recovery was accomplished with free running gold.
There were a number of significant operations using chemical process, but they eventually came under so much flak from govt agencies it became untenable to continue operations.

A particular operation I became acquainted with had an interest in a very large amount of slag left behind as tailings from a WWII copper mining operation. Gold was left behind, and there was a significant amount of platinum within the samples. The problem was that the slag was extremely hard, and the chunks would have eaten up milling machinery.
They felt the gold values were substantial and were vigorously searching for a technique to recover it.
The platinum would most likely have gone as scrap because it is so hard to work with.

The same people also had a large amount of military scrap. Jet engine components with a hi degree of platinum composition that would be recovered by smelting.

As a jeweler, you probably know far better than I that it takes a significantly higher level of heat to work with platinum.

All this can be done on a hobby scale, without regard for profit.
Dumping a bundle of money on a project may be valuable for educational reasons but it's different if attempting to keep biscuits on the table.

Discovery of a small concentration of platinum is pretty much along the lines of finding low-grade uranium with a geiger counter. Sure, it's here and there, perhaps in abundance. But it must be in very large quantities to make economic recovery feasible.

Thanks for taking note of my post.

Dave, if I'm incorrect or have been misled, I always appreciate an education.

Please describe effective platinum recovery methods for a small time operator...
You know, something that would meet the "prudent man" qualifier at minimum.

Thanks!

R M P T R

 

[Hoser John]

I'll attest to trinity and shasta county pt group metals-I have some beauties over a dwt and some even shine too. Some real rough and others smooth as a water worn nugget.They're there just gotta keep moving them boulders.Tons a au & pt 2-John

 

[MD Dog]

Forgive my amateur no nothing stupidity, but I see lotsa shapes, sizes, colors etc... in the vile how can I tell which flakes are the platinum ? I'm Missing something huh ? If it is all Platinum, how come so much of it looks different from each other ?