Feb., 1914
T H E J O U R N A L OF I N D U S T R I A L A N D ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
Gillett and A. B. Norton, of the U. S. Bureau of Mines. The results, summarized, in Technical Paper No. 60, are as follows: Approximate composition Copper Gun m e t a l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Leaded gun metal . . . . . . . . . . . 851/2 Red brass.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Lorn-grade red brass.. . . . . . . . 82 Leaded bronze . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Bronze with zinc. . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Half-yellom-half-red. . . . . . . . . 75 Cast yellow brass., , . . , . , . , . . 67 Naval brass ..._... . . . . . . . . . . 611/2 Manganese bronze.. . . . . . . . . . . . ALLOY
Zinc 2 2
5 10
..
5 20 31 37
Tin 10 9‘11
5 3 10 10 2
..
11/2
. . . .
Lead
.. 3
5 5 10
.. 3 2
.. ..
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Melting point
C. 995 980 970 9x0 945 980 920 895 855 870
e
F.
1825 1795 1780 1795 1735 1795 1690 1645 1570 1600
The melting point given is the “liquidus,” or point where the alloy is completely molten. The temperatures are thought t o be accurate within *IO’ C. or *zoo F. BUREAU OF MINES BUDGET The estimate of appropriations for the United States Bureau of Mines, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1915, as approved by Secretary Lane and forwarded to Congress, is as follows: For general expenses, $70,000. Investigating mine accidents, $347,000. Equipment of mine rescue cars and stations, $30,000. Equipment of testing plant a t Pittsburgh, Pa., $IO,OOO. Testing fuels, $135,000. Mineral mining investigations, $120,000. Investigations of petroleum and natural gas, $30,000. Inspection of mines in -4laska, $7,000. Books and publications, $2,000. I,ands, leases, etc., for mine rescue cars, $1,000. The total is $ 7 5 2 , 0 0 0 , a n increase of $90,000 over the fiscal year ending June 30, 1914. PLATINUM DEPOSITS I N GERMANY Consul Thomas H, Norton reports that in several localities of the Ural lIountains, notably in the neighborhood of Nizhni Tacilsk in the Perm Government and about Mount Blogdat. platinum is found in sufficient amounts to allow of systematic mining operations. Very small quantities of platinum have been found in Borneo, Sumatra, Brazil, Colombia, Australia, and California, b u t the contributions from all these regions t o the world’s demands form a small fraction of the Russian supply-j per cent or less. The total production is now about 13,250 pounds annually. Every effort has been made in Russia to locate new deposits of the metal, but without success. The annual quantity tends to decrease, and an exhaustion of the deposits a t no very remote date seems almost a certainty. At the same time, the demand for platinum has far outstripped the supply, and has naturally caused a n enormous increase in the price I n 1892 platinum cost $89 per troy pound, about one-third as much as gold. Four years ago the price had risen to $338 per troy pound, and a t present (October, 1913) it is $488 per troy pound. Under these circumstances a large group of industries will welcome the discovery in Germany of extensive deposits of platinum, susceptible of easy exploitation. The location of these deposits is a t Wenden, in Westphalia, in a section where iron, lead, copper and zinc mines are abundant. While prospecting by drill in the neighborhood of Wenden, metallurgical chemists unexpectedly discovered appreciable amounts of platinum in the layers of rock covering the ores of the common metals. Over IOO analyses of different borings were made and all showed the presence of the metal in sufficient amount to guarantee profitable extraction. The amount of platinum present in the rock varies from o 9 to I 9 troy ounces per cubic yard, which is very rich compared with the Russian deposits.
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16j
Thus far a territory of 500 acres has been examined and the borings from nine different drill holes give on analysis the results cited. This tract alone will assure profitable extraction for many years. The depth to which the platiniferous rock reaches has not been announced. Steps have already been taken to begin the regular metallurgical extraction of platinum a t Wenden on a large scale. It is thought t h a t careful prospecting will reveal the presence of other extensive fields in the Westphalian ore region, where geological formations similar to those a t Wenden are wide-spread. Surpri e may be expressed t h a t in a country where chemical investigation is so highly developed, the existence of easily accessible platiniferous rock deposits should have remained so long unsuspected. The reason is as follows: I n the usual analytical methods, gold and platinum, as well as most of the rarer metals allied t o platinum, are separated from the ordinary metals-iron, copper, silver, etc.-by treatment with nitric acid, in which the latter are soluble. Metallic gold and platinum remain behind as a n insoluble residue after such treatment. They can be brought into solution by the aid of aqua regia, and be separated from one another, or the gold can be extracted by means of mercury. It happens, however, t h a t platinum when alloyed with silver can be dissolved by treatment with strong nitric acid. As thus far platinum has been found in nature almost exclusively in the elementary form, no attempt has been made in ordinary ore analyses t o test for the pres-nce of the rare metal in the nitric acid solutions obtained as just described. It seems, however, t h a t in the Westphalian deposits platinum is present in the form of a n alloy, and in the customary course of analysis entered into solution in the form of a nitrate. A chemist decided t o test the solution of nitrates obtained in the normal course of a n analysis for the possible presence of platinum, and this led t o the unexpected discovery. There is every possibility t h a t not only in Germany, but in all other countries, rock analyses will promptly be submitted to revision, and the greatest care taken to ascertain whether platinum is present. Deposits containing much less platinum than occurs a t Wenden can be worked most
U. S. MINERAL PRODUCTION, 1912 The value of all minerals produced in the United States in 1912, accord ng t o figures just compiled by Edward W. Parker, statistician, of the United States Geological Survey, reached the record-breaking total of $2,243,630,326. This is more than six times the value of the production in 1882, 30 years ago. During t h a t period the population has not quite doubled, but the per capita output of the mines has increased from $7.27 to $23.47. OIL-HARDENING PLANT I N NORWAY Commercial Agent Erwin W. Thompson states that during the summer of 1913 an oil-hardening plant was opened a t Fredrikstad by De Nordiske Fabriker, with head offices a t Christiania. The original object was to harden whale oil for the soap industry, but as the result of experiments with edible oils the plant is being enlarged to a capacity of 1,000 barrels a day with the expectation of hardening cottonseed and peanut oils for the margarin makers. The Norwegian firm will purchase the best grades of cottonseed and peanut oils, and will also harden on toll. . ~~
CONCENTRATED NITRIC ACID I N NORWAY Consul General Charles A. Holder reports t h a t 98 per cent nitric acid is being produced a t the Notodden and Rjukan plants where they now manufacture calcium nitrate. The acid has already been used successfully by factories manufacturing explosives. The manufacture of this concentrated acid is expected to prove of great importance.
