What do you do with platinum and platinum group metals?

[Customx_12]

I have a whole bunch of fine platinum and fine platinum group metals. I?m not sure what to do with it as I know it often bonds with other elements and is difficult to refine.

What do you guys do with yours? I don?t really want to just sit on it and keep it stashed away. I?d rather refine it and sell it.

 

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[Garscale]

Converter?

 

[mike b]

What do you do with platinum and platinum group metals?

Mostly I think about how happy I'll be when I find some.

 

[crashbandicoot]

I think it,s really difficult to refine in a home or do it yourself environment.I saw a video of a guy doing that and he was using all the dangerous nitric acids along with other chemicals and gases all in a apparatus that looked like something from a mad scientist.I,m not trying to discourage you but I,d look farther into this before I tried it myself.Look on youtube and google the process and see what you get.A better idea might be to simply ship what you have to one of the refineries like Midwest,they pay you for the actual metal and then refine it themselves.You,d have to contact them and arrange how you want it done and they keep a percentage for their work and assay.Just a thought.Where did you get a bunch of fine platinum anyway?And what are platinum group metals?And how much is a bunch?

 

[Customx_12]

I think it,s really difficult to refine in a home or do it yourself environment.I saw a video of a guy doing that and he was using all the dangerous nitric acids along with other chemicals and gases all in a apparatus that looked like something from a mad scientist.I,m not trying to discourage you but I,d look farther into this before I tried it myself.Look on youtube and google the process and see what you get.A better idea might be to simply ship what you have to one of the refineries like Midwest,they pay you for the actual metal and then refine it themselves.You,d have to contact them and arrange how you want it done and they keep a percentage for their work and assay.Just a thought.Where did you get a bunch of fine platinum anyway?And what are platinum group metals?And how much is a bunch?

Oh yes, I’ve looked into it and certainly do NOT want to do it myself. Seems much too dangerous.

A bunch is a bunch. I mean a bunch. We staked a couple claims (in a top secret location) and had some spots assayed. The assayer wrote “WOW!” and drew fireworks all over the report because it came back at a little over 30 ppm which is huge. Mostly palladium and platinum.

Frankly, we don’t know what to do at this point. We aren’t professional miners by any means but we staked a couple very rich claims that we’re just sitting on at this point. My elderly father (no mining experience at all) wants to do it ourselves. I’m more inclined to talk to some of the bigger mining companies and sell them the mining rights for a percentage. My dad is concerned they would just buy up all the land around it and leave us in the cold.

What would you guys do??

Also, you mentioned Midwest. Do you have a link for them and any others that pay for raw material and process it themselves?

 

[crashbandicoot]

Oh yes, I’ve looked into it and certainly do NOT want to do it myself. Seems much too dangerous.

A bunch is a bunch. I mean a bunch. We staked a couple claims (in a top secret location) and had some spots assayed. The assayer wrote “WOW!” and drew fireworks all over the report because it came back at a little over 30 ppm which is huge. Mostly palladium and platinum.

Frankly, we don’t know what to do at this point. We aren’t professional miners by any means but we staked a couple very rich claims that we’re just sitting on at this point. My elderly father (no mining experience at all) wants to do it ourselves. I’m more inclined to talk to some of the bigger mining companies and sell them the mining rights for a percentage. My dad is concerned they would just buy up all the land around it and leave us in the cold.

What would you guys do??

Also, you mentioned Midwest. Do you have a link for them and any others that pay for raw material and process it themselves?

Midwest Refineries in Michigan,I don,t have the specific link but it should be easy to search.I don,t know if they refine raw ore, I thought maybe you had been taking apart catalytic converters.I,m not equipped mentally to advise as to what course to take,but sounds like you have a potentially valuable source there so I,d proceed cautiously,maybe get some legal advice from an attorney specializing in mining rights.Most likely someone with more knowledge will be along to give more pertinent advice.Best of luck to you and your Dad.

 

[galenrog]

Contact at least a few of the many mining or prospecting forums. You may get better advice since you are working with ores and not alloys.

Time for more coffee.

 

[Customx_12]

Contact at least a few of the many mining or prospecting forums. You may get better advice since you are working with ores and not alloys.

Time for more coffee.

Mining and prospecting forums? I thought this was the place for that. Are there better ones for my needs? When I looked up other mining forums, it was all cryptocurrencies or in-person forums/conventions.

If you know of better forums for my needs, could you please PM me the names of them?

 

[RTR]

I just admire their beauty

 

[monte_rivers]

You should contact folks at prospectorsgoldandgems.com, in Colorado. They know a lot about refining ores.

 

[galenrog]

Mining and prospecting forums? I thought this was the place for that. Are there better ones for my needs? When I looked up other mining forums, it was all cryptocurrencies or in-person forums/conventions.

If you know of better forums for my needs, could you please PM me the names of them?

i don’t know what search terms you used, but I used the term “prospector clubs” and found over 100 in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Several of them should have a few members that deal with platinum ores, or be able to point you to a processor. Because I have never dealt with platinum ore, I can not give a specific recommendation.

Time for more coffee.

 

[1637]

what is a oz of unrefinded platinum worth?
brad

 

[Customx_12]

i don’t know what search terms you used, but I used the term “prospector clubs” and found over 100 in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Several of them should have a few members that deal with platinum ores, or be able to point you to a processor. Because I have never dealt with platinum ore, I can not give a specific recommendation.


Time for more coffee.

I looked for “mining forum” and “prospecting forum.” Didn’t search “club.”

 

[Customx_12]

what is a oz of unrefinded platinum worth?
brad

I have no clue.

 

[Clay Diggins]

These type of forums are not the best place to learn the mining business. Tnet does have some serious, knowledgeable, experienced miners but it's also a place for everyone to share their opinions and ideas. Unless you are already well versed in mining technology you aren't really going to be able to sort the opinions and ideas from the facts.

The value of your deposit depends on how much ore there is, how rich it is, what it's alloyed with and how much it will cost to extract.

You can't know any of those things from a single assay. I'm guessing that "assay" was with an XRF (useless for estimating the size or value of a deposit) and was performed on a single selected piece of ore?

For an assay to have any value it must be a fire assay of multiple unsorted samples of significant portions of the whole deposit - not just the vein. Two lode claims will never have enough mineral of any kind to interest a mining company to invest into developing a deposit. In the western U.S., at present, deposits of even the most valuable minerals will have to be proven to encompass square miles before any well funded mining company will be interested.

If you were to establish proof of a rich strike of at least a hundred acres there is a good possibility of leasing your project area to a junior exploration company. That can be a nice annual income and with enough additional successful exploration a major mining company might eventually pick up the project (and your lease) then your annual income could be life changing.

But first you will have to put a lot of time and effort into learning how to perfect your discovery. You will also need a boatload of money to pay for the required drilling and assays. All mining is a gamble and until you can provide industry standard proof to increase the odds of success for a mining company none will have any interest in gambling on your discovery.

That's the situation in the industry for now. That leaves the little guy with a perfect opportunity to develop small but rich discoveries on their own dime without fear the big boys will try to muscle in. It's just not part of their business model anymore.

So what to do with your ore assuming it's worth mining? That's a problem with small but chemically complex discoveries like hard rock PGM deposits. A recovery circuit will need to be designed to process your ore efficiently and that research alone can be very expensive and time consuming. Unlike free milling gold you won't be able to finance your development costs from the proceeds of your discovery as you go along. Instead you will need to fund the circuit process design and contract a processor before you can do anything but stockpile ore.

As you can see all this leads us back to the beginning where you get some real assays on some properly obtained and prepared samples before you decide whether your discovery is worth your time and money to pursue. If it isn't you can always sell your, now perfected, claims to someone who has a bigger wallet and a bigger gambling urge than yourself.

I hope that gives you some perspective on how you can succeed with your discovery. Good luck I wish you well.

Heavy Pans

 

[Ohiogoldfever]

This is another page that I frequent. It has a pile of useful information and a handful of very skilled refiners. Word to the wise, do a fair bit of reading prior to asking a pile of questions. Many of the refiners are busy guys who are happy to help you but won’t make your lunch and feed it to you if you get what I mean.

Good luck with your strike. Hope it pays off big for you.

Goldrefiningforum.com

 

[Customx_12]

These type of forums are not the best place to learn the mining business. Tnet does have some serious, knowledgeable, experienced miners but it's also a place for everyone to share their opinions and ideas. Unless you are already well versed in mining technology you aren't really going to be able to sort the opinions and ideas from the facts.

The value of your deposit depends on how much ore there is, how rich it is, what it's alloyed with and how much it will cost to extract.

You can't know any of those things from a single assay. I'm guessing that "assay" was with an XRF (useless for estimating the size or value of a deposit) and was performed on a single selected piece of ore?

For an assay to have any value it must be a fire assay of multiple unsorted samples of significant portions of the whole deposit - not just the vein. Two lode claims will never have enough mineral of any kind to interest a mining company to invest into developing a deposit. In the western U.S., at present, deposits of even the most valuable minerals will have to be proven to encompass square miles before any well funded mining company will be interested.

If you were to establish proof of a rich strike of at least a hundred acres there is a good possibility of leasing your project area to a junior exploration company. That can be a nice annual income and with enough additional successful exploration a major mining company might eventually pick up the project (and your lease) then your annual income could be life changing.

But first you will have to put a lot of time and effort into learning how to perfect your discovery. You will also need a boatload of money to pay for the required drilling and assays. All mining is a gamble and until you can provide industry standard proof to increase the odds of success for a mining company none will have any interest in gambling on your discovery.

That's the situation in the industry for now. That leaves the little guy with a perfect opportunity to develop small but rich discoveries on their own dime without fear the big boys will try to muscle in. It's just not part of their business model anymore.

So what to do with your ore assuming it's worth mining? That's a problem with small but chemically complex discoveries like hard rock PGM deposits. A recovery circuit will need to be designed to process your ore efficiently and that research alone can be very expensive and time consuming. Unlike free milling gold you won't be able to finance your development costs from the proceeds of your discovery as you go along. Instead you will need to fund the circuit process design and contract a processor before you can do anything but stockpile ore.

As you can see all this leads us back to the beginning where you get some real assays on some properly obtained and prepared samples before you decide whether your discovery is worth your time and money to pursue. If it isn't you can always sell your, now perfected, claims to someone who has a bigger wallet and a bigger gambling urge than yourself.

I hope that gives you some perspective on how you can succeed with your discovery. Good luck I wish you well.

Heavy Pans

Thanks for all the information!

I will say the assay we had was a fire assay. We have drawn samples from various locations and archived the coordinates of each but when we call the assayers now, most are having supply problems due to COVID and aren?t currently taking samples. So additional fire assays will have to wait.

Can you further explain what a recovery circuit is?

 

[Ohiogoldfever]

Thanks for all the information!

I will say the assay we had was a fire assay. We have drawn samples from various locations and archived the coordinates of each but when we call the assayers now, most are having supply problems due to COVID and aren?t currently taking samples. So additional fire assays will have to wait.

Can you further explain what a recovery circuit is?

Short answer... the manor in which your materials are processed. With precious metals you will find different methods of recovering values. Chemical leaching, smelting, gravity separation to name a few. Your circuit will be referencing to the tactics employed in freeing your values from the waste materials. More than one way to skin a cat..... not all ores can be processed the same way. Many variables to consider.

May of these questions can be answered with great detail and fill in many more questions that will follow this one if you locate the information online and read. It will require a great deal of time but truly understanding the process will help you find the correct way to go about it for your ore. As well as help you weed out any future dealing with people who may be wasteful of your time or materials.

If you have indeed found what you seem to have found it will pay off 10 fold to invest the time needed to gain a real understanding, rather than just an answer to your most recent question.

Best of luck! Quite the rabbit hole you’ve stumbled upon.

 

[Customx_12]

Thanks again for the info!

It’s a good problem to have, I suppose.

 

[galenrog]

If you are thinking of recovery and refining on your own, please search the term “platinosis”. A single mistake could cost you dearly. Please get advice from professionals with experience in recovery and refining of platinum.

Time for more coffee.