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Show c Oil OF PLATINUM . Cffijill PAIGES Cost Per Ounce of Rare T Metal Jumps in Six Years From $44.88 to $105. T'.-.ere was considerable relief in the pkLlinum trade when it was announced a few days ago that the government would dispo.se of 3?, 000 ounces at ?U5 an ounce. This is part of the metal aero ae-ro quired during the war when the govern-in govern-in mcnt commandeered all ava liable platl-(.( platl-(.( run n, and subsequently fixed the price at T' Jio:. There 1ms been an acute shortage of this metal the last few years, due to ' breakdown of the Kussiun supply and comma no. eeri tig- by governments of all ic slocks of platinum. L,( He-cent usii mated place tiie United States government's holdings at 50,l0u ounces, valued at over ?5,000.000, but in y reliable quarters It is stated the govern- . j merit will sell only at this time the 19,- :x- Q'JQ ounces mentioned. ytl Previous to the war 90 per cent of the world's output of platinum was produced Ti in Russia, and was distributed by a French syndicate. In 1914 about 2o0,000 11 ounces were taken from the Urais, but ct tiie output dwindled to about oU.oOO in It1 17. Russian output was beginning to . show a marked decrease before H'lT. due v to tiie exhaustion of sonic of the best " Tiio next iarges; pi'oduciTtg country is ;i Sroutn .111erica. most o( the metal bein 0 la lien from c'olomtna. In liUO. Colombia. f prouuco.i only H'.oOO ounces, but procKicr- j .. tion crrcw to 2.0l0 in 1917. Kxperts claim ' i"uMi ore Ijodios abound in this territory, j P The ivorld's production of p'.atinum is estimated ut only 2i0.000 troy ounces an-' an-' iiually. n. Prices for platinuni, per ounce, tiie last j- iw 't:ars have been as follows: 1913, ?14.SS: is?14, ?43.05; 1915, ? 19.63; 191(5, a :i.4u; U'l 7. 5i7 in Jamiarv. But the. t' price gradually advanced to $104.38 in a L'eijenii'LT, 11? IT, and remained at about tliis iuro until March 2. 191 S. when the 1 pu ern mcnt commandeered supplies, lix-in- tiie price at $103. Ji-weicra have been complaining- of in- 0 aijilily to obtain necessary platinum re-1- -;uiren:e,its. J 1 is thought ihe govern-11 govern-11 ineni sii'c of pwrt of its holdings will oniy t temporarily aid the shortage in the trade. , Viatinum demonstrated its great utility util-ity during the war, and is bound to piay a prominent part in industrial develop-c develop-c mem to come. Perhaps nothing "will bear so vitally on the coming industrial ex-a ex-a pans: on as the use of airplanes, and piaiinum is an essential in their construction, con-struction, as in all oii -driven engines. 11 Another potential value lies in employment employ-ment for production of atmospheric ni-r ni-r trogen. whicii may come into extensive vj use for fertilizing. " Platinum metal is now quoted at from h ?10."i to $1'.'6 an ounce, and with the heavy 1 demand expected from airplane, engi-1 engi-1 i.eering. jewelry and dental indust ries. t and shutting off of the Russian supply, c it is bclie ed it will command still higher E prices. Crude platinum Is obtained in two r- vayg, wet and dry. Extraction from the ore consists, first, in concentrating by l wasliing. The dry method floes not. pro-'. pro-'. g Ji'e more platinum, but it alloys with iridium and rhodium. Production of pure c platinum requires the wet method. V-Jlec-t tr olysis is used to separate metallic r. platinum from its alloys with gold. The c. wet method is the principal one now employed. em-ployed. Boston News Bureau. |