We prepared a detailed guide to farming ore in Kul Tiras and Zandalar: we found out how to speed up the farming process and which route is better to take in each location.
Skill Levels
Any ore in Battle for Azeroth can be farmed with skill 1, but to increase the efficiency of mining, it makes sense to study levels 2 (requires 50 skill points and completing the quest) and 3 (145 skill points and completing the quest):
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Ore |
Exercise |
| Monelite ore | Who's for firewood? (eq. 2) |
| Storm Silver Ore | Preparation for the ritual (level 2) |
| Platinum ore | Item An exceptionally large piece of platinum that can drop during mining. Requires approximately 130 Mining (Tier 2) Where to farm ore in Kul Tiras and ZandalarThe first type of ore that you can mine in the locations of the Battle for Azeroth is monelite ore. It is from it that improvements can be made to speed up the farming process. The next type of deposit is storm silver ore. This is a rare monelite spawn, i.e. after mining ore from a monelite deposit, there is a 35-40% chance that a storm silver ore deposit will appear in the same place. Thus, it is recommended to mine all the monel that comes across on the way. And finally, Platinum Ore is the rarest deposit in Battle for Azeroth and is used to craft the most valuable items. Ore mining route in WOW Battle for AzerothNazmirHere you will need either a mount with the ability to walk on water, or the appropriate ability specifically for the character - otherwise, farming ore will be more difficult. If you notice that the ore doesn't have time to spawn, try changing the route by adding a red path to the yellow one.
DrustvarThe principle is the same - if the ore does not have time to spawn, increase the route.
Stormsong ValleySeveral deposits are located underground, in caves - remember that it does not always make sense to spend time on them.
Tiragarde SoundBoth routes are good, but the first one is better.
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Platinum ores
(a. platinum ores; n. Platinerze; f. minerais de platine; and. minerales de platino, menas de platino) - natural mineral formations containing platinum elements (Pt, Pd, Jr, Rh, Os, Ru) in such concentrations, at which their prom. use is technically possible and economically feasible. M-tion P. p. there are primary and placer, and in composition - platinum proper and complex (many primary deposits of copper and copper-nickel sulfide ores, placer deposits of gold with platinum, and also gold with osmous iridium).
Platinum deposits are distributed within the deposits of P. p. unevenly. Ix prom. concentrations range from 2-5 g / t to n kg / t in primary platinum deposits proper, from tenths to hundreds (sometimes thousands) g / t in primary complex deposits and from tens of mg / m 3 to hundreds of g / m 3 in alluvial deposits. Main the form of finding platinum elements in the ore is their own minerals (more than 100 are known). More common than others are: ferruginous (Pt, Fe), isoferroplatinum (Pt 3 Fe), tetraferroplatinum (Pt, Fe), osmiride (Jr, Os), (Os, Jr), (PdBi 2), (PtSb 2), (PtAs 2), (RuS 2), (Rh, Pt, Pd, Jr)(AsS) 2, etc. The scattered form of the occurrence of platinum elements in P. p. in the form of a negligible impurity enclosed in a crystalline. lattice of ore (from tenths to hundreds of g/t) and rock-forming (from thousandths to units of g/t) minerals.
Primary deposits of P. p. are represented by bodies of platinum-bearing complex sulfide and platinum chromium ores with massive and disseminated textures of various shapes. These ore bodies, genetically and spatially closely related to intrusions of basic and ultrabasic rocks, have a predominance. magmatic origin. Such deposits are found in platform and folded areas and always tend to large, long-term developing deep faults. The formation of the deposits took place at a depth of from 0.5-1 to 3-5 km in different geol. epochs (Archaean to Mesozoic). Complex deposits of copper-nickel sulfide deposits p. occupy a leading position among the exploited raw sources of platinum metals. The area of these deposits reaches tens of km 2 with a capacity of prom. ore zones, many tens of meters. Platinovoe is associated with bodies of solid and disseminated copper-nickel sulfide ores of complexly differentiated gabbro-dolerite intrusions (Insizva in South Africa), stratiform intrusions of gabbro-norites with ultramafic rocks (in South Africa), layered massifs of norites and granodiorites (Sudbury , Canada). Main ore minerals P. p. they are, chalcopyrite, cubanite. Ch. platinum group metals - platinum and (Pd: Pt from 1.1:1 to 5:1). The content of other platinum metals in ore is tens and hundreds of times less. In copper-nickel sulfide ores are numerous. minerals of platinum elements. B main it is intermetallic. compounds of palladium and platinum with bismuth, tin, tellurium, arsenic, lead, antimony, solid solutions of tin and lead in palladium and platinum, as well as iron in platinum, and sulfides of palladium and platinum. During the development of sulfide ores, platinum elements are extracted from their own minerals, as well as from minerals containing elements of the platinum group as an impurity.
Prom. reserve P. p. are chromitites (Bushveldsky) and copper-nickel associated with them (Stillwater in the USA); of interest are the fields of cuprous shales and copper-bearing black shales with associated platinum content and oceanic. iron-manganese and crusts. Alluvial deposits are represented by Ch. arr. Mesozoic and Cenozoic placers of platinum and osmous iridium. Prom. (jetted, ribbon-like, discontinuous) are exposed on the day surface (open placers) or hidden under 10-30 m or thicker sedimentary strata (). The width of the largest of them reaches hundreds of meters, and productive layers - up to several. m. They were formed as a result of weathering and destruction of platinum-bearing clinopyroxenite-dunite and serpentinite-harzburgite massifs. Prom. placers occurring on their primary source (platinum-bearing massif of ultramafic rocks) are in the main. eluvial-alluvial and eluvial-deluvial, have a small thickness of peat (the first m) and a length of up to several. km. Allochthonous alluvial platinum placers, prom. representatives to-rykh have a length of tens of kilometers with a thickness of peat up to 11-12 m. Prom. placers are known on platforms and in folded belts. From placers, only minerals of platinum elements are mined. Platinum minerals in placers are often intergrown with each other, as well as with chromite, olivine, serpentine, clinopyroxene, and magnetite. There are platinum nuggets in placers.
P. p. conducted by open and underground methods. The majority of alluvial deposits and part of primary deposits are developed by the open method. In the development of placers, dredges and hydromechanization facilities are widely used. The underground mining method is the main one in the development of primary deposits; sometimes it is used to mine buried placers.
As a result of wet enrichment of metal-bearing sands and crushed chromite deposits p. receive "schlich platinum" - platinum with 80-90% of the minerals of platinum elements, which is sent for refining. platinum metals from complex sulfide P. p. carried out by flotation with subsequent multi-operational pyro-, hydro-metallurgical, electrochemical. and chem. processing.
World platinum metals (excluding socialist countries) are estimated (1985) at 75,050 tons, incl. in South Africa 62,000, USA 9300, 3100, Canada 500, Colombia 150. these reserves are platinum (65%) and palladium (30-32%). In South Africa, all stocks of P. p. are enclosed in the actual platinum deposits of the Bushveld complex. cp. grade in ore is 8 g/t, incl. platinum 4.8 g/t. In the USA stocks of P. p., are concluded predominately. in copper ores ah min zap. states, and only slightly. the amount falls on the placer deposits of Alaska (cp. content approx. 6 g/m3). B Zimbabwe prim. resources P. p. enclosed in the chromites of the Great Dike. The ores contain a large amount of platinum in association with palladium (their total content is 3-5 g/t), nickel and copper. In Canada P. p. in the main are localized in the sulfide copper-nickel deposits of Sudbury (prov. Ontario) and Thompson (prov. Manitoba). In Colombia, the P. p. concentrated ch. arr. on the app. slopes of the Cordillera. Reserves are calculated for placers in valleys pp. San Juan and Atrato in the departments of Choco and Narinho. The content of platinum in placers in rich areas reaches 15 g/m 3 , and in drag sands 0.1 g/m 3 .
Ch. producing countries P. p. - South Africa and Canada. In 1985, the world production of platinum group metals from ores and concentrates (excluding socialist countries) amounted to more than 118 tons, incl. in South Africa ca. 102, Canada ca. 13.5, Japan ca. 1.1, Australia 0.7, Colombia 0.5, USA approx. 0.4. In South Africa, almost all production was carried out from the deposits of the Merensky horizon. In Canada, platinum metals were extracted as a by-product of nickel production from the ores of the Sudbury and Thompson deposits, and in the USA they were obtained from the placer deposits of Alaska as a by-product of copper refining. In Japan, the production of platinum metals was carried out from imported and own. ores of copper and nickel.
The share of secondary sources accounts for 10 to 33% of the annual world production of these metals. Platinum exporting countries in 1985: (45%), USA (40%), Great Britain, Netherlands, Germany, Italy. Literature: Razin L. V., Deposits of platinum metals, in the book: Ore deposits of the CCCP, vol. 3, M., 1978. L. B. Razin.
Mountain Encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. Edited by E. A. Kozlovsky. 1984-1991 .
See what "Platinum ore" is in other dictionaries:
PLATINUM ORES, contain platinum metals in primary deposits from tenths of a g/t to units of kg/t; in placers from tens of mg/m3 to hundreds of g/m3. Main minerals: native platinum, polyxene, ferroplatinum, platinum iridium. World ... ... Modern Encyclopedia
Mineral formations containing platinum metals in industrial concentrations. The main minerals: native platinum, polyxene, ferroplatinum, platinum iridium, nevyanskite, sysertskite, etc. Primary deposits are mainly ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary
platinum ores- ores containing Pt, Pd, Ir, Rh, Os, Ru in concentrations at which their industrial use is technically possible and economically feasible. Deposits of platinum ores are primary and alluvial, and in composition ... ...
Natural mineral formations containing Platinum metals (Pt, Pd, lr, Rh, Os, Ru) in concentrations at which their industrial use is technically possible and economically feasible. Significant accumulations of P. r. in… …
Mineral formations containing platinum metals in the industrial. concentrations. Ch. minerals: native platinum, polyxene, ferroplatinum, platinum iridium, nevyanskite, sysertskite and others. magmatic origin contain from ... ... Natural science. encyclopedic Dictionary
Chemical elements of group VIII periodic system: ruthenium Ru, rhodium Rh, palladium Pd, osmium Os, iridium Ir and platinum Pt. Silvery white metals with various shades. Due to its high chemical resistance, refractoriness and beautiful ... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
- (platinoids), chemical elements of group VIII of the periodic system: ruthenium Ru, rhodium Rh, palladium Pd, osmium Os, iridium Ir and platinum Pt. Silvery white metals with various shades. Due to its high chemical resistance, refractoriness and ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary
Platinoids, chemical elements of the second and third triads of the VIII group of the periodic system of Mendeleev. These include: ruthenium (Ruthenium) Ru, rhodium (Rhodium) Rh, palladium (Palladium) Pd (light P. m., density Platinum metals 12 ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia
ferrous metal ores- ores, which are the raw material base of the ChM; including Fe, Mn and Cr ores (See Iron ores, Manganese ores and Chrome ores); See also: Ores marketable ores siderite ores … Encyclopedic Dictionary of Metallurgy
PLATINUM ORES (a. platinum ores; n. Platinerze; f. minerais de platine; and. minerales de platino, menas de platino) - natural mineral formations containing platinum elements (Pt, Pd, Jr, Rh, Os, Ru) in such concentrations at which their industrial use is technically possible and economically feasible. platinum ores are primary and alluvial, and in composition - actually platinum and complex (many primary deposits and copper-sulfide ores, placer deposits of gold with platinum, as well as gold with osmous iridium).
Platinum metals are distributed unevenly within platinum ore deposits. Their industrial concentrations range from 2-5 g/t to n kg/t in primary platinum deposits proper, from tenths to hundreds (sometimes thousands) g/t in primary complex deposits, and from tens of mg/m 3 to hundreds of g/m 3 in alluvial deposits. The main form of finding platinum elements in the ore is their own minerals (more than 100 are known). More common than others are: ferruginous platinum (Pt, Fe), isoferroplatinum (Pt 3 Fe), Native platinum, tetraferroplatinum (Pt, Fe), osmiride (Jr, Os), iridosmin (Os, Jr), frudite (PdBi 2), heversite (PtSb 2), sperrylite (PtAs 2), laurite (RuS 2), hollingworthite (Rh, Pt, Pd, Jr) (AsS) 2, etc. The scattered form of the presence of platinum elements in platinum ores in the form of a negligible impurity is of secondary importance , enclosed in the crystal lattice of ore (from tenths to hundreds of g/t) and rock-forming (from thousandths to units of g/t) minerals.
Primary deposits of platinum ores are represented by bodies of platinum-bearing complex sulfide and platinum chromium ores with a massive and disseminated texture of various shapes. These ore bodies, genetically and spatially closely related to mafic and ultramafic intrusions, are predominantly igneous in origin. Such deposits are found in platform and folded areas and always gravitate to large, long-term developing deep faults. The formation of deposits occurred at a depth of 0.5-1 to 3-5 km in different geological epochs (from the Archean to the Mesozoic). Complex deposits of copper-nickel sulfide platinum ores occupy a leading position among the exploited raw platinum metals. The area of these deposits reaches tens of km2, while the thickness of industrial ore zones is many tens of meters. Platinum mineralization is associated with bodies of continuous and disseminated copper-nickel sulfide ores of complexly differentiated gabbro-dolerite intrusions (Insizwa in South Africa), stratiform intrusions of gabbro-norites with ultramafic rocks (Bushveld Complex in South Africa), layered massifs of norites and granodiorites (Sudbury, Canada) . The main ore minerals of platinum ores in them are chalcopyrite, pentlandite, cubanite. The main metals of the platinum group are platinum and (Pd: Pt from 1.1:1 to 5:1). The content of other platinum metals in ore is tens and hundreds of times less. Copper-nickel sulfide ores contain numerous minerals of platinum elements. These are mainly intermetallic compounds of palladium and platinum with bismuth, tin, tellurium, arsenic, antimony, solid solutions of tin and lead in palladium and platinum, as well as iron in platinum, and palladium and platinum. During the development of sulfide ores, platinum elements are extracted from their own minerals, as well as from minerals containing elements of the platinum group as an impurity.
The industrial reserve of platinum ores is chromitites () and copper-nickel sulfide ores associated with them (Stillwater complex); fields of cuprous shales and copper-bearing black shales with associated platinum content and oceanic ferromanganese nodules and crusts are of interest. Alluvial deposits are mainly represented by Mesozoic and Cenozoic placers of platinum and osmic iridium. Industrial placers (jetted, ribbon-like, discontinuous) are exposed on the day surface (open placers) or hidden under 10-30 m and thicker sedimentary strata (buried placers). The width of the largest of them reaches hundreds of meters, and the thickness of productive layers is up to several meters. They were formed as a result of weathering and destruction of platinum-bearing clinopyroxenite-dunite and serpentinite-harzburgite massifs. Industrial placers occurring on their primary source (platinum-bearing massif of ultramafic rocks) are mainly eluvial-alluvial and eluvial-deluvial, have small peat thicknesses (a few m) and a length of up to several km. Allochthonous alluvial platinum placers are out of touch with their primary sources, industrial representatives of which are tens of kilometers long with peat thickness up to 11-12 m. Industrial placers are known on platforms and in folded belts. From placers, only minerals of platinum elements are mined. Platinum minerals in placers are often intergrown with each other, as well as with chromite, olivine, serpentine, clinopyroxene, magnetite. There are platinum nuggets in placers.
The extraction of platinum ores is carried out by open and underground methods. open way most placer and part of primary deposits are being developed. In the development of placers, dredges and hydromechanization facilities are widely used. The underground mining method is the main one in the development of primary deposits; sometimes it is used to mine buried placers.
As a result of the wet enrichment of metal-bearing sands and crushed chromite platinum ores, "schlich platinum" is obtained - a platinum concentrate with 80-90% of the minerals of platinum elements, which is sent for refining. Extraction of platinum metals from complex sulfide platinum ores is carried out by flotation followed by multi-stage pyro-, hydrometallurgical, electrochemical and chemical processing.
Platinum ores are natural mineral formations containing platinum metals (Pt, Pd, Ir, Rh, Os, Ru) in concentrations at which their industrial use is technically possible and economically feasible. This means that accumulations of platinum ore in the form of deposits are very rare. Deposits of platinum ore are primary and alluvial, and in terms of composition they are actually platinum and complex (many primary deposits of copper and copper-nickel sulfide ores, placer deposits of gold with platinum, as well as gold with osmous iridium).
Platinum metals are distributed unevenly within platinum ore deposits. Their concentrations fluctuate: in primary platinum deposits proper from 2–5 g/t to units of kg/t, in primary complex deposits from tenths to hundreds (occasionally thousands) g/m; in alluvial deposits - from tens of mg/m3 to hundreds of g/m3. The main form of finding platinum metals in the ore is their own minerals, of which about 90 are known. Polyxene, ferroplatinum, platinum iridium, nevyanskite, sysertskite, zvyagintsevite, paolovite, frudite, sobolevskite, plumbopalla-dinite, sperrylite are more common than others. Of subordinate importance is the scattered form of the presence of platinum metals in platinum ore in the form of an insignificantly small impurity contained in the crystal lattice of ore and rock-forming minerals.
Primary deposits of platinum ore are represented by bodies of platinum-bearing complex sulfide and platinum chromite ores with a massive and disseminated texture of various shapes. These ore bodies, genetically and spatially closely related to the intrusions of basic and ultrabasic rocks, have a predominance. magmatic origin. Primary deposits of platinum ores are found in platform and folded areas and always gravitate towards large faults in the earth's crust. The formation of these deposits took place at different depths (from 0.5-1 to 3-5 km from the day surface) and in different geological epochs (from Precambrian to Mesozoic). Complex deposits of copper-nickel sulfide platinum ores occupy a leading position among the raw materials of platinum metals. The area of these deposits reaches tens of km2 with the thickness of industrial ore zones - many tens of meters. Their platinum mineralization is associated with bodies of solid and disseminated copper-nickel sulfide ores of complexly differentiated gabbro-dolerite intrusions (deposits of the Norilsk ore region in Russia, Insizva in South Africa), stratiform intrusions gabbro-norites with ultramafic rocks (deposits of the Merensky horizon in the Bushveld complex of South Africa and Monchegorsky in the CIS), layered massifs of norites and granodiorites (Sudbury copper-nickel deposits in Canada). The main ore minerals of platinum ore are pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, pentlandite, and cubanite. The main metals of the platinum group of copper-nickel platinum ores are platinum and palladium prevailing over it (Pd: Pt from 3: 1 and higher). The content of other platinum metals (Rh, Ir, Ru, Os) in the ore is tens and hundreds of times less than the amount of Pd and Pt. Copper-nickel sulfide ores contain numerous minerals of platinum metals, mainly intermetallic compounds of Pd and Pt with Bi, Sn, Te, As, Pb, Sb, solid solutions of Sn and Pb in Pd and Pt, and also Fe in Pt, apsenides and sulfides of Pd and Pt.
Placer deposits of platinum ore are mainly represented by Mesozoic and Cenozoic eluvial-alluvial and alluvial placers of platinum and osmic iridium. Industrial placers are exposed on the day surface (open placers) or hidden under the 10-30th sedimentary layer (buried placers). The largest of them are traced for tens of kilometers in length, their width reaches hundreds of meters, and the thickness of productive metal-bearing layers up to several meters was formed as a result of weathering and destruction of platinum-bearing clinopyroxenite-dunite and serpentine-harzburgite massifs. Industrial placers are known both on platforms (Siberian and African) and in eugeosynclines in the Urals, Columbia (Choco region), Alaska (Goodnews Bay), etc. Platinum metal minerals in placers are often intergrown with each other, as well as with chromites, olivines and serpentines.
In the Urals, the first information about the discovery of platinum and osmic iridium as gold satellites in placers of the Verkh-Isetsky district (Verkh-Neyvinskaya dacha) appeared in 1819. A few years later, in 1822, it was discovered in the dachas of the Nevyansk and Bilimbaevsky plants, and in 1823 in the Miass gold placers. The concentrates of the “white metal” collected from here were analyzed by Varvinsky, Lyubarsky, Gelm and Sokolov. tributaries of the Is and Tura rivers, and finally, in 1825, platinum placers of unique richness were discovered along the Sukhoi Visism and other rivers 50 km west of Nizhny Tagil. Kachkanarsko-Isovskaya, Kytlymsky and Pavdinsky.At this time, the annual production of platinum from placers reached 2-3 tons.
However, for the first time after the discovery of the Ural placers, platinum did not yet have a wide industrial application. Only in 1827 Sobolev and V. Lyubarsky independently proposed a method for processing platinum. In the same year, engineer Arkhipov made a ring and a teaspoon from platinum, and a tabernacle from an alloy with copper. In 1828, the government, represented by Count Kankrin, wishing to sell the Ural platinum, organized the minting of coins from it, and the export of metal abroad was prohibited. About 1250 pounds (about 20 tons) of raw platinum were used to make coins issued from 1828 to 1839. This first major use of platinum caused a rapid increase in production. However, in 1839, the minting of coins was stopped due to the unstable exchange rate for platinum and the importation of counterfeit coins into Russia. This caused a crisis, and in 1846-1851. metal mining has practically ceased.
A new period began in 1867, when a special decree allowed private individuals to mine, purify and process platinum, and allowed free circulation of raw platinum in the country and its export abroad. At that time, the areas in the basin of the Is and Tura rivers became the main center for the extraction of placer platinum in the Urals. The significant size of the Isovskaya placer, which stretches over a distance of more than 100 km, made it possible to use cheaper mechanized mining methods on it, including those that appeared already in late XIX century dredge.
In less than a hundred years since the discovery of platinum deposits (from 1924 to 1922), according to official data, about 250 tons of metal were mined in the Urals, and another 70-80 tons were mined illegally in a predatory way. The Ural placers are still unique in terms of the number and weight of nuggets mined here.
At the turn of the twentieth century, the Nizhny Tagil and Isovskie mines produced up to 80% of the world's platinum production, and the contribution of the Urals as a whole, according to experts, was from 92 to 95% of the world's platinum production.
In 1892, 65 years after the start of the development of placers in the Nizhny Tagil massif, the first primary occurrence of platinum was discovered - the Serebryakovskaya vein in the Krutoy Log. The first description of this deposit was made by A.A. Foreigners, and then Academician A.P. Karpinsky. The largest platinum nugget recovered from a primary deposit weighed about 427 g.
In 1900, the Geological Committee, on behalf of the Mining Department and at the request of several congresses of platinum producers, sent N.K. Vysotsky for compiling geological maps of the Isovsky and Tagil platinum-bearing regions, which are the most important industrially. Khrustalev, a military topographer of the General Staff, carried out a continuous topographic and scale survey of the areas of placer development. On this basis, N.K. Vysotsky compiled standard geological maps that have not lost their significance to this day. The result of this work was the monograph “Platinum deposits of the Isovsky and Nizhny Tagil regions in the Urals”, published in 1913 (Vysotsky, 1913). Soviet time it was revised and published in 1923 under the title "Platinum and areas of its extraction".
Around the same time from 1901 to 1914. at the expense of platinum companies, to study and map the more northern regions of the Urals (the former Nikolae-Pavdinskaya dacha), Louis Duparc, a professor at the University of Geneva, and his staff were invited. The data obtained by researchers from the group of L. Duparc were the basis for large-scale filming and prospecting work conducted in the Northern Urals already in the Soviet period.
In the twenties of our century, the primary deposits of the Nizhny Tagil massif were intensively explored and studied. Here he started his labor activity as a local geologist, the future academician, the largest specialist in the field of geology of ore deposits A.G. Betekhtin. Many scientific works came out from under his pen, but the monograph “Platinum and other minerals of the platinum group”, written on the Ural material and published in 1935, occupies a special place. A.G. Betekhtin was one of the first to substantiate the late magmatic genesis of the Ural platinum deposits, clearly showed the wide participation of fluids in the process of ore formation, identified the types of chromite-platinum ores and gave them a material and structural-morphological characteristics. twentieth century.
Already by the middle of the last century, the primary platinum deposits in the Nizhny Tagil massif were completely developed, and no new occurrences were discovered, despite active searches carried out from the 1940s to the 1960s. Currently, only placer deposits are being exploited, and the work is carried out mainly by small artisanal artels within the boundaries of old mining allotments, i.e. the dumps of the once world famous platinum mines are washed over. In the second half of the twentieth century, the largest platinum placers in Russia were discovered in the Khabarovsk Territory, Koryakia and Primorye, but primary deposits similar to those developed in the Urals have not yet been found. It is absolutely true that this type of deposits received its own name in the special geological literature - the “Ural” or “Nizhny Tagil” type of deposits.
Mining methods
The extraction of platinum ore is carried out by open and underground methods. The majority of alluvial deposits and part of primary deposits are developed by the open method. In the development of placers, dredges and hydromechanization facilities are widely used. The underground mining method is the main one in the development of primary deposits; sometimes it is used to mine rich buried placers.
As a result of wet enrichment of metal-bearing sands and chromite platinum ores, a concentrate of "raw" platinum is obtained - a platinum concentrate with 70-90% of platinum metal minerals, and the rest consisting of chromites, forsterites, serpentines, etc. Such a platinum concentrate is sent for refining. Enrichment of complex sulfide platinum ores is carried out by flotation followed by multi-stage pyrometallurgical, electrochemical and chemical processing.
Figure 1. "Platinum sand washing dredge"
Figure 2. "Workers at the washing
Figure 3. "Prospectors with trays" gutters "
Geological and industrial types of PGM and the main objects of their production
Metals of the platinum group in certain geological settings form significant local accumulations up to industrial deposits. According to the conditions of origin, four classes of platinum metal deposits are distinguished, each of which includes groups.
With a significant variety of geological settings for the presence of platinum group metals (PGMs) in nature, the main world source of their production is actually magmatic deposits. Proven PGM reserves foreign countries at the beginning of the 90s, they amounted to more than 60 thousand tons, including about 59 thousand tons in South Africa. platinoid-copper-nickel and platinoid-chromite deposits. The share of other sources is less than 0.3%.
In some countries, associated production of platinum metals has been established during the metallurgical processing of ores of other metals. In Canada, the processing of polycomponent copper ores produces over 700 kg of a platinum-palladium alloy containing 85% palladium, 12% platinum and 3% other platinoids. In South Africa, for every ton of refined copper, there are 654 g of platinum, 973 g of rhodium and up to 25 g of palladium. When smelting copper in Finland, about 70 kg of PGM are extracted annually along the way. Along the way, platinum group metals are also mined in some CIS countries. In particular, at the Ust-Kamenogorsk plant (Kazakhstan), about 75 kg of platinum metals are annually extracted from pyrite-polymetallic ores. In Russia, over 98% of explored PGM reserves are concentrated in the Arctic zone, while more than 95% of the production of platinum metals is carried out from copper-nickel sulfide ores of the Norilsk industrial region.
Getting Platinum
The separation of platinum metals and obtaining them in pure form is rather laborious due to the great similarity of their chemical properties. to obtain pure platinum, the starting materials - native platinum, platinum concentrates (heavy residues from washing platinum sands), scrap (unusable products made from platinum and its alloys) are treated with aqua regia when heated. The following pass into the solution: Pt, Pd, partially Rh, Ir in the form of complex compounds H2, H2, H3 and H2, and at the same time Fe and Cu in the form of FeCl3 CuCl2. The residue insoluble in aqua regia consists of osmic iridium, chromium iron ore, quartz, and other minerals.
Pt is precipitated from the solution in the form of (NH4) 2 with ammonium chloride. But so that iridium does not precipitate together with platinum in the form of a similar compound, it is first reduced with sugar to Ir (+3). The (NH4) 3 compound is soluble and does not pollute the sediment.
The resulting precipitate is filtered off, washed with concentrated NH4Cl solution, dried and calcined. The resulting spongy platinum is pressed and then melted in an oxy-hydrogen flame or in a high-frequency electric furnace.
(NH4) 2 \u003d Pt + 2Cl2 + 2NH3 + 2HCl
Introduction
Platinum ores
History of discovery and mining of platinum in the Urals
Mining. Mining methods
Geological and industrial types of PGM and the main objects of their production
Getting Platinum
Use of platinum
Automotive industry
Industry
Investments
Conclusion
Literature
Introduction
Platinum gets its name from the Spanish word platina, a diminutive of plata, meaning silver.
So dismissively light gray metal, occasionally found among gold nuggets, was called by the Spanish conquistadors - the colonizers of South America about 500 years ago. No one could then imagine that in our time, platinum (Pt) and platinum group elements (PGG): iridium (Ir), osmium (Os), ruthenium (Ru), rhodium (Rh) and palladium (Pd) - will be widely used in various branches of science and technology, and will surpass gold in value.
But in the future, when humanity moves to hydrogen energy, we may face a situation where the world's platinum reserves are simply not enough to turn all cars into electric vehicles.
Platinum has been used to make jewelry since ancient times. High-grade platinum alloy is considered a classic jewelry material for making products with precious stones. But its use in jewelry has declined significantly. Platinum has found wide application in various fields of industry. For example, Japan and Switzerland are characterized by a narrow specialization - the use of platinum mainly for jewelry and instrument making, while the USA, Germany, France and some other countries are characterized by a wide and very variable range of applications.
Physical and chemical properties of platinum
Platinum is one of the most inert metals.
It is insoluble in acids and alkalis, with the exception of aqua regia. At room temperature platinum is slowly oxidized by atmospheric oxygen, giving a strong oxide film.
Platinum also directly reacts with bromine, dissolving in it.
When heated, platinum becomes more reactive. It reacts with peroxides, and upon contact with atmospheric oxygen, with alkalis. A thin platinum wire burns in fluorine with the release of a large amount of heat. Reactions with other non-metals (chlorine, sulfur, phosphorus) occur less readily.
With stronger heating, platinum reacts with carbon and silicon, forming solid solutions, similarly to the metals of the iron group.
In its compounds, platinum exhibits almost all oxidation states from 0 to +8, of which +2 and +4 are the most stable. Platinum is characterized by the formation of numerous complex compounds, of which many hundreds are known.
Many of them bear the names of the chemists who studied them (salts of Koss, Magnus, Peyronet, Zeise, Chugaev, etc.). A great contribution to the study of such compounds was made by the Russian chemist L.A. Chugaev (1873−1922), the first director of the Institute for the Study of Platinum, founded in 1918.
Platinum hexafluoride PtF6 is one of the strongest oxidizing agents among all known chemical compounds.
With the help of it, in particular, the Canadian chemist Neil Bartlett in 1962 obtained the first real chemical compound of xenon XePtF6.
Platinum, especially in a finely dispersed state, is a very active catalyst for many chemical reactions, including those used on an industrial scale.
For example, platinum catalyzes the addition of hydrogen to aromatic compounds even at room temperature and atmospheric pressure hydrogen. Back in 1821, the German chemist I.V. Döbereiner discovered that platinum black promotes a number of chemical reactions; while the platinum itself did not undergo changes. Thus, platinum black oxidized vapors of tartar to acetic acid even at ordinary temperatures. Two years later, Döbereiner discovered the ability of spongy platinum to ignite hydrogen at room temperature.
If a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen (explosive gas) is brought into contact with platinum black or spongy platinum, then a relatively calm combustion reaction occurs at first. But since this reaction is accompanied by the release of a large amount of heat, the platinum sponge becomes hot, and the explosive gas explodes.
Based on his discovery, Döbereiner designed the "hydrogen flint" - a device that was widely used to make fire before the invention of matches.
Platinum ores
Platinum ores are natural mineral formations containing platinum metals (Pt, Pd, Ir, Rh, Os, Ru) in concentrations at which their industrial use is technically possible and economically feasible.
This means that accumulations of platinum ore in the form of deposits are very rare. Deposits of platinum ore are primary and alluvial, and in terms of composition they are actually platinum and complex (many primary deposits of copper and copper-nickel sulfide ores, placer deposits of gold with platinum, as well as gold with osmous iridium).
Platinum metals are distributed unevenly within platinum ore deposits.
Their concentrations fluctuate: in primary platinum deposits proper from 2–5 g/t to units of kg/t, in primary complex deposits from tenths to hundreds (occasionally thousands) g/m; in alluvial deposits - from tens of mg/m3 to hundreds of g/m3. The main form of finding platinum metals in the ore is their own minerals, of which about 90 are known.
Polyxene, ferroplatinum, platinum iridium, nevyanskite, sysertskite, zvyagintsevite, paolovite, frudite, sobolevskite, plumbopalla-dinite, sperrylite are more common than others. Of subordinate importance is the scattered form of the presence of platinum metals in platinum ore in the form of an insignificantly small impurity contained in the crystal lattice of ore and rock-forming minerals.
Primary deposits of platinum ore are represented by bodies of platinum-bearing complex sulfide and platinum chromite ores with a massive and disseminated texture of various shapes.
These ore bodies, genetically and spatially closely related to the intrusions of basic and ultrabasic rocks, have a predominance. magmatic origin. Primary deposits of platinum ores are found in platform and folded areas and always gravitate towards large faults in the earth's crust. The formation of these deposits took place at different depths (from 0.5-1 to 3-5 km from the day surface) and in different geological epochs (from Precambrian to Mesozoic).
Complex deposits of copper-nickel sulfide platinum ores occupy a leading position among the raw materials of platinum metals.
The area of these deposits reaches tens of km2 with the thickness of industrial ore zones - many tens of meters. Their platinum mineralization is associated with bodies of solid and disseminated copper-nickel sulfide ores of complexly differentiated gabbro-dolerite intrusions (deposits of the Norilsk ore region in Russia, Insizva in South Africa), stratiform intrusions gabbro-norites with ultramafic rocks (deposits of the Merensky horizon in the Bushveld complex of South Africa and Monchegorsky in the CIS), layered massifs of norites and granodiorites (Sudbury copper-nickel deposits in Canada).
The main ore minerals of platinum ore are pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, pentlandite, and cubanite. The main metals of the platinum group of copper-nickel platinum ores are platinum and palladium prevailing over it (Pd: Pt from 3: 1 and higher).
Platinum, white gold of the Urals.
The content of other platinum metals (Rh, Ir, Ru, Os) in the ore is tens and hundreds of times less than the amount of Pd and Pt. Copper-nickel sulfide ores contain numerous minerals of platinum metals, mainly intermetallic compounds of Pd and Pt with Bi, Sn, Te, As, Pb, Sb, solid solutions of Sn and Pb in Pd and Pt, and also Fe in Pt, apsenides and sulfides of Pd and Pt.
Placer deposits of platinum ore are mainly represented by Mesozoic and Cenozoic eluvial-alluvial and alluvial placers of platinum and osmic iridium.
Industrial placers are exposed on the day surface (open placers) or hidden under the 10-30th sedimentary layer (buried placers). The largest of them are traced for tens of kilometers in length, their width reaches hundreds of meters, and the thickness of productive metal-bearing layers up to several meters was formed as a result of weathering and destruction of platinum-bearing clinopyroxenite-dunite and serpentine-harzburgite massifs.
Industrial placers are known both on platforms (Siberian and African) and in eugeosynclines in the Urals, Columbia (Choco region), Alaska (Goodnews Bay), etc. Platinum metal minerals in placers are often intergrown with each other, as well as with chromites, olivines and serpentines.
Figure 1. "Native platinum"
History of discovery and mining of platinum in the Urals
In the Urals, the first information about the discovery of platinum and osmic iridium as gold satellites in placers of the Verkh-Isetsky district (Verkh-Neyvinskaya dacha) appeared in 1819. A few years later, in 1822, it was discovered in the dachas of the Nevyansk and Bilimbaevsky plants, and in 1823 G.
in the Miass gold placers. The concentrates of the “white metal” collected from here were analyzed by Varvinsky, Lyubarsky, Gelm and Sokolov. The first platinum placer proper was discovered in 1824.
along the river Orulikha, the left tributary of the river. Baranchi north of Nizhny Tagil. In the same year, platinum placers were discovered along the tributaries of the river. Is and Tura. And, finally, in 1825, platinum placers of unique richness were discovered along the Sukhoi Visism and other rivers 50 km west of Nizhny Tagil.
Entire platinum-mining regions appeared on the map of the Urals, the most famous of which were Kachkanarsko-Isovskaya, Kytlymsky and Pavdinsky. At that time, the annual production of platinum from placers reached 2-3 tons.
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§ 5. Extraction and production of precious metals
It is believed that the first metal found by man was gold. Gold nuggets could be flattened, holes made in them, decorated with their weapons and clothes.
In nature, mainly native gold is found - nuggets, large grains in sands and ores.
Even in antiquity, gold was mined and processed by many peoples. in Russia until the 18th century. imported gold. In the middle of the XVIII century. Erofei Markov discovered the first gold deposits near Yekaterinburg.
In 1814, a placer gold deposit was discovered in the Urals. Gold mining in Russia was of an artisanal nature. Gold tried to extract the most in a simple way- from placers, the methods of its processing were also very imperfect.
After the Great October Socialist Revolution, fundamental changes took place in the gold mining industry. Gold mining is currently highly mechanized.
Alluvial gold is mined mainly in two ways - hydraulically and with the help of dredges. The essence of the hydraulic method lies in the fact that water under high pressure, washing away the rock, separates gold from it, and the remaining rock goes for further processing. The extraction of gold in the second way happens like this. A dredge (a floating structure equipped with a chain of buckets) removes rock from the bottom of reservoirs, which is washed, as a result of which gold is deposited.
The bulk of gold is obtained from ore deposits and is mined in more labor-intensive ways. Gold-bearing ore is delivered to special metallurgical plants. There are several ways to extract gold from ores. Consider the two main ones: cyanidation and amalgamation. The most common method - cyanidation - is based on the dissolution of gold in aqueous solutions of cyanide alkalis.
This discovery belongs to the Russian scientist P. R. Bagration. In 1843, a message about this was published in the Bulletin of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. In Russia, cyanidation was introduced only in 1897 in the Urals. The essence of this process is as follows. As a result of the treatment of gold-bearing ores with cyanide solutions, a gold-bearing solution is obtained, from which gold is precipitated after filtration of the waste rock with metal precipitators (usually zinc dust).
Then, impurities are removed from the precipitate with a 15% sulfuric acid solution. The remaining pulp is washed, filtered, evaporated and then fused.
Amalgamation has been known for over 2,000 years. It is based on the ability of gold to combine with mercury under normal conditions. Mercury, in which a small amount of gold has already been dissolved, improves the wettability of the metal.
The process takes place in special amalgamation devices. The crushed ore is passed along with water over an amalgamated surface of mercury. As a result, gold particles, being wetted by mercury, form a semi-liquid amalgam, from which, by squeezing out excess mercury, a solid part of the amalgam is obtained. Its composition may have 1 hour of gold and 2 hours of mercury. After such filtration, the mercury is evaporated, and the remaining gold is melted into ingots.
None of the above methods of obtaining gold produces a metal of high purity. Therefore, in order to obtain pure gold, the resulting ingots are sent to refineries (refining) plants.
Native silver is much rarer than native gold, and, probably, therefore, it was discovered later than gold. Native silver mining accounts for 20% of all silver mining. Silver ores contain up to 80% silver (argentine - compounds of silver and sulfur), but the bulk of silver is obtained incidentally during the smelting and refining (purification) of lead and copper.
Silver is obtained from ores by cyanidation and amalgamation. For cyanidation of silver, in contrast to cyanidation of gold, more concentrated cyanide solutions are used. After receiving the silver bars, they are sent for further purification to refineries.
Platinum, like gold, occurs naturally in nuggets and ores.
Platinum was known to man in ancient times, the found nuggets were called "white gold", but they did not find a use for it for a long time.
Platinum began to be mined in the middle of the 18th century, but for another half a century it was difficult to use it due to its high melting point. At the turn of the XVIII and XIX centuries. Russian scientists and engineers A. A. Musin-Pushkin, P. G. Sobolevsky, V. V. Lyubarsky and I. I. Varfinsky developed the fundamentals of methods for refining and processing platinum metals. And since 1825, systematic mining of platinum began in Russia. The main methods of platinum extraction are washing of platinum-bearing sands and chlorination.
Get platinum and the electrolysis of gold.
As a result of washing platinum-containing sands, schlich platinum is obtained, which is subjected to further purification at refineries.
Platinum is obtained by chlorination as follows: the ore concentrate is subjected to oxidative roasting in furnaces. After roasting, it is mixed with table salt and placed in an oven filled with chlorine and kept for 4 hours at a temperature of 500 - 600°C.
The resulting product is treated with a solution of hydrochloric acid, which leaches the platinum group metals from the concentrate. Then, sequential precipitation of metals in solution is carried out: platinum group metals are precipitated with zinc dust, copper with limestone, and nickel with white lime. The precipitate containing platinum metals is fused.
Further purification and separation of platinum group metals is carried out at the refinery.
The use of precious metals as currency values and for the preparation of alloys requires that they be obtained in a state of high purity. This is achieved by refining (cleaning) at special refineries or in the refineries of metallurgical enterprises. The refining technique is based primarily on electrolytic separation or selective precipitation of metal chemical compounds.
The main raw material entering the melt for refining is: slip metal obtained during the enrichment of placers; metal resulting from the processing of cyanide residues; metal obtained by stripping mercury from amalgam; metal scrap of jewelry, technical and household products.
Metals containing gold and silver are subjected to acceptance melting prior to refining to assess the composition of the metal in the resulting ingot. Platinum slip metal and platinum sludge from receiving melting do not pass, but go directly to processing.
Refining of silver and gold alloys is carried out by electrolysis: silver alloys containing gold - in nitric acid electrolyte, gold alloys containing silver - in hydrochloric.
Electrolysis in nitric acid electrolyte is based on the solubility of silver and the insolubility of gold at the anode in nitric acid electrolyte and on the deposition of pure silver from solution on the cathode.
The anode is cast from the metal being refined, and the cathode is cast from silver, or a metal insoluble in nitric acid (for example, aluminum). The electrolyte consists of a weak solution of silver nitrate (1 - 2% AgNO3) and nitric acid (1 - 1.5% HNO3) - Silver deposited as a result of electrolysis is pressed after filtration and washing and sent to the melt. The gold mud is washed and treated with one of three substances before smelting: nitric acid, sulfuric acid or aqua regia.
When treated with nitric acid, the silver contained in the sludge is completely dissolved. It is used with a low content of tellurium and selenium. sulfuric acid used with a high content of tellurium and selenium, as they dissolve in strong sulfuric acid. Royal vodka is used to obtain platinum metals from silver electrolysis sludge together with gold.
Gold refining by electrolysis is carried out in a solution of gold chloride and hydrochloric acid. The anodes of such baths are cast from the metal entering the refinery, and the cathode for gold deposition is made from corrugated gold tin. The gold obtained at the cathode as a result of electrolysis has a purity of 999.9 samples. The gold mud, which has fallen to the bottom of the bath in the form of a fine powder, is subject to additional processing. The platinum and palladium accumulated in the electrolyte are precipitated with ammonium chloride, dried and, by calcining, are converted into a metal sponge, which is sent to the refining of platinum metals.
The main sources of crude platinum and its satellites are: nickel and copper electrolysis sludge; schlich platinum obtained by enrichment of placers; crude platinum is a by-product of gold electrolysis and various scrap. When refining the concentrate metal, the main preparatory operation is dissolution in aqua regia (4 g HCl per 1 g HNO3). In this case, osmium remains in the insoluble part of the minerals, and platinum metals are successively precipitated from the resulting solutions.
First of all, platinum is precipitated. To do this, a solution of ammonium chloride is added to the solution, while obtaining a precipitate of ammonium chloroplatinate. The precipitate is washed with ammonium chloride solution and then hydrochloric acid. After treatment, the precipitate is dried and calcined, after melting technical platinum is obtained, the purity of which is 99.84 - 99.86%.
Chemically pure platinum is obtained by additional dissolution and precipitation.
Iridium precipitates out of solution more slowly.
In this case, in addition to iridium, which is deposited in the form of ammonium chloroiridate, platinum remaining in solution is also deposited in the form of ammonium chloroplatinate. Calcining the precipitate yields a sponge containing a mixture of iridium with some platinum.
The main deposits of platinum in the world
To separate the iridium from the platinum, the sponge is treated with dilute aqua regia, in which only platinum dissolves.
Then she is besieged.
After precipitation of platinum and iridium from the solution, the solution is acidified with sulfuric acid and subjected to cementation with iron and zinc to precipitate the remaining metals in it.
The precipitated black precipitates are filtered off, washed hot water, dried and calcined.
The calcined precipitate is treated with hot dilute sulfuric acid to remove the copper. The precipitate purified from copper is treated with dilute aqua regia, resulting in a solution containing palladium and part of platinum, and insoluble black containing iridium and rhodium.
The black is separated by filtering through paper and washed with hot water. Platinum is precipitated from the solution after dissolving the precipitated metals and filtering it with ammonium chloride. Palladium is precipitated in the form of chloropalladosamine, for which the solution is neutralized with an aqueous solution of ammonia and then acidified with hydrochloric acid.
The precipitate is calcined, crushed, and palladium is reduced in a stream of hydrogen.
The modern electrolytic method gives a high degree of purification, high productivity and is harmless.
The history of the discovery and mining of platinum in the Urals
The geological structure of the platinum-bearing Tagil region, where last years I have studied the primary deposits of platinum, quite well studied. As is known, the Tagil dunite massif, which serves as a reservoir for these deposits, is one of ten such massifs, the largest in size.
These massifs are located, as separate centers, near the western margin of a wide zone of gabbro rocks, stretching along the Urals for a distance known for more than 600 km.
in length (Fig. 1). This zone narrows, then expands. Acid deep rocks of the granite type and, intermediate between them and gabbro rocks, diorites appear in places along its eastern margin. All these rocks from dunites to granites form, in all likelihood, a single plutonic complex of rocks genetically related to each other.
The main feature of this complex is the predominance of rocks of the gabbro type over all the others. Of course, the solidification of different rocks here did not occur simultaneously, sometimes more acidic rocks intrude into more basic ones, sometimes the relationships are reversed and more complex, but there are still no sufficient grounds to see two different and independent formations in the rocks of this complex ... ..
Synonyms: white gold, rotten gold, frog gold. polyxene
Origin of name. It comes from the Spanish word platina - a diminutive of plata (silver). The name "platinum" can be translated as silver or silver.
Under exogenous conditions, in the process of destruction of primary deposits and rocks, platinum-bearing placers are formed. Most minerals of the subgroup are chemically stable under these conditions.
Place of Birth
Large deposits of the first type are known near Nizhny Tagil in the Urals. Here, in addition to primary deposits, there are also rich eluvial and alluvial placers. Examples of deposits of the second type are the Bushveld igneous complex in South Africa and Sudbury in Canada.
In the Urals, the first finds of native platinum, which attracted attention, date back to 1819. There it was discovered as an admixture to alluvial gold. Independent richest platinum-bearing placers, which are world famous, were discovered later. They are common in the Middle and Northern Urals and are all spatially confined to outcrops of ultramafic rock massifs (dunites and pyroxenites). Numerous small primary deposits have been established in the Nizhne Tagil dunite massif. Accumulations of native platinum (polyxene) are confined mainly to chromite ore bodies, consisting mainly of chrome spinels with an admixture of silicates (olivine and serpentine). From the heterogeneous ultramafic Konder massif in the Khabarovsk Territory, platinum crystals of cubic habit, about 1–2 cm in size, come from the edge. A large amount of palladium platinum is mined from the segregation sulfide copper-nickel ores of the deposits of the Norilsk group (North of Central Siberia). Platinum can also be extracted from the late magmatic titanomagnetite ores associated with the main rocks of such deposits as, for example, Gusevogorskoye and Kachkanarskoye (Middle Urals).
Of great importance in the platinum mining industry is an analogue of Norilsk - the well-known Sudbury deposit in Canada, from whose copper-nickel ores platinum metals are mined along with nickel, copper and cobalt.
Practical use
In the first period of mining, native platinum did not find proper use and was even considered a harmful impurity to alluvial gold, with which it was captured along the way. At first, it was simply thrown into the dump when washing gold or used instead of shot when shooting. Then attempts were made to falsify it by gilding and handing it over to buyers in this form. Chains, rings, barrel hoops, etc., were among the very first items made from native Ural platinum, kept in the St. Petersburg Mining Museum. The remarkable properties of the platinum group metals were discovered somewhat later.
The main valuable properties of platinum metals are hard melting, electrical conductivity and chemical resistance. These properties determine the use of metals of this group in the chemical industry (for the manufacture of laboratory glassware, in the production of sulfuric acid, etc.), electrical engineering and other industries. Significant amounts of platinum are used in jewelry and dentistry. Platinum plays an important role as a surface material for catalysts in oil refining. The extracted "raw" platinum goes to refineries, where complex chemical processes are carried out to separate it into its constituent pure metals.
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Mining
Platinum is one of the most expensive metals, its price is 3-4 times higher than gold, and about 100 times higher than silver.
The extraction of platinum is about 36 tons per year. The largest amount of platinum is mined in Russia, the Republic of South Africa, Caiade, the USA and Colombia.
In Russia, platinum was first found in the Urals in the Verkh-Isetsky district in 1819. When washing gold-bearing rocks, white shiny grains were noticed in gold, which did not dissolve even in strong acids. Bergprobier of the laboratory of the St. Petersburg Mining Corps V. V. Lyubarsky in 1823 examined these grains and established that “the mysterious Siberian metal belongs to a special kind of raw platinum containing a significant amount of iridium and osmium.” In the same year, the highest command followed to all mining chiefs to look for platinum, separate it from gold and present it to St. Petersburg. In 1824-1825 pure platinum placers were discovered in the Gorno-Blagodatsky and Nizhny Tagil districts. And next years platinum in the Urals was found in several other places. The Ural deposits were exceptionally rich and immediately brought Russia to the first place in the world in the production of heavy white metal. In 1828, Russia mined an amount of platinum unheard of at that time - 1550 kg per year, about one and a half times more than was mined in South America for all the years from 1741 to 1825.
Platinum. Stories and legends
Mankind has known platinum for more than two centuries. For the first time, members of the expedition of the French Academy of Sciences, sent by the king to Peru, drew attention to him. Don Antonio de Ulloa, a Spanish mathematician, being on this expedition, was the first to mention it in travel notes published in Madrid in 1748: "This metal from the beginning of the world has remained completely unknown until now, which is no doubt very surprising."
Under the names "White gold", "rotten gold" platinum appears in the literature of the XVIII century. This metal has been known for a long time, its white heavy grains were sometimes found during gold mining. It was assumed that this was not a special metal, but a mixture of two known metals. But they could not be processed in any way, and therefore platinum did not find application for a long time. Until the 18th century, this most valuable metal, along with waste rock, was thrown into dumps. In the Urals and Siberia, grains of native platinum were used as shot for shooting. And in Europe, dishonest jewelers and counterfeiters were the first to use platinum.
In the second half of the 18th century, platinum was valued two times lower than silver. It fuses well with gold and silver. Using this, platinum began to be mixed with gold and silver, first in jewelry, and then in coins. Having found out about this, the Spanish government declared war on platinum "damage". A Kopolevsky decree was issued, which ordered the destruction of all platinum mined along with gold. In accordance with this decree, the officials of the mints in Santa Fe and Papaya (Spanish colonies in South America) solemnly, with numerous witnesses, periodically drowned the accumulated platinum in the Bogota and Cauca rivers. Only in 1778 this law was repealed, and the Spanish government itself began to mix platinum with gold coins.
It is believed that the Englishman R. Watson was the first to receive pure platinum in 1750. In 1752, after research by G. T. Schaeffer, it was recognized as a new metal.
