Author Topic: Platnum  (Read 1218 times)

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Offline Sourdough

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Platnum
« on: March 17, 2005, 07:43:26 AM »
Finding Gold is nice, but finding Platnum would be better!  Does anyone out there look for the Platnum?  What do you look for?  Where do you find it?  Where do you find more info about it?
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Offline ShadowMover

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Platnum
« Reply #1 on: March 17, 2005, 05:33:17 PM »
Most platinum is refined from other metal ores, such as nickel and copper and gold as they are purified.  I think it was first recovered from some nuggets found in South America, which were mistaken for a type of silver, where is got it's name 'Platina' from the Spanish for silver.  If you do find nuggets in a stream it will pan out like gold, as it is very heavy, but I don't know of any place in the US that has it. Does anybody know of any Platinum mines in the US?

Offline Sourdough

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Platnum
« Reply #2 on: March 19, 2005, 08:15:31 AM »
It's been found on the beach at Nome.  Also athey have been using a big dredge like they used for gold to mine for it up in North Western Alaska.  We also have large deposits of copper and nickle here in Alaska.  I just want to know what to look for when I go out to prospect in the areas near where friends are actively mining gold now.  I'm more interested in Platnum than gold.  These guys are bringing in a lot of gold everyday.
Where is old Joe when we really need him?  Alaska Independence    Calling Illegal Immigrants "Undocumented Aliens" is like calling Drug Dealers "Unlicensed Pharmacists"
What Is A Veteran?
A 'Veteran' -- whether active duty, discharged, retired, or reserve -- is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America,' for an amount of 'up to, and including his life.' That is honor, and there are way too many people in this country today who no longer understand that fact.

Offline Daveinthebush

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Platnium
« Reply #3 on: March 19, 2005, 02:42:54 PM »
Yes I would like to find some too.  It is almost twice the selling price of gold.  I have heard of one mine only as it is not plentiful in AK.  Alaska Mining and Diving, on the mining page has a list of many mining references in AK.  

I have read many mining reports from the Prince William Sound area and it is listed only in minute amounts.  Most of what is found is only a secondary find from what I have read.  There are a few claims that say they are platnimum mines but if they had any value at all they should still be being worked.  

A lot of mining equipment was taken out of the mines during WWII for use elseware and never returned to the mines.  Many of the mines were never reopened.
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Offline Daveinthebush

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« Reply #4 on: March 19, 2005, 03:01:48 PM »
There used to be a platnium mine up near Phelan Creek about mile 201 of the Richardson north of Paxon.  It is easily seen as the entire area was worked well up by the glacier. All gold in that area was found on the west side of the mountain range.  Very little was found on the eastern slopes.

What to look for.  Haven't found any, thought the stuff I had was silver.  But: It is silver-gray in color, medium heavy, ductile, no clevage, could be slightly magnetic and not discolored when exposed to air.  Scales, flakes and sometimes nuggets.  

I might suggest if you looking:
Rock and Minerals by Simon and Schuster
Hankbook for The Alaskan Prospector by Ernest Wolff
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