Laboratory analyses of six gold ore samples from mines near Fairbanks, Alaska, revealed substantial amounts of platinum, leading U.S. Geological Survey scientists to conclude in a report that the area may contain mineable amounts of the metal, says a U.S. government release.
The U.S. currently imports almost all the platinum it consumes; authors of the survey report say the discovery and development of any platinum deposits in Alaska could help to decrease U.S. dependence on foreign sources.
Platinum-group metals have several industrial applications, including use in emission controls for automobiles and industrial processes. The metals are also used as catalysts in processing petroleum and in producing nitric acid for fertilizers. Platinum-group metals are platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium and osmium.
Samples of gold ore from five placer sites and one lode mine in the Tolovana and Rampart mining districts near Fairbanks underwent analysis.
“The source for platinum near Fairbanks may be a belt of mafic and ultramafic rocks (rich in magnesium and iron, poor in silica) which passes through the mining districts and extends northwest for an additional 100 miles,” John Cathrall, a Survey geologist, said. “The occurrence of possible source rocks along with the discovery of platinum in native gold samples from the two mining districts are positive indications there may be platinum deposits in the area.”
Stillwater Mining operates North America’s only producing platinum group metals mine, near Billings, Mont. The mine went into production in the spring of this year. In Canada, where numerous platinum exploration projects are in progress, Madeleine Mines reports it plans to have the country’s first platinum- paladium mine in production by the summer of 1988 at Lac des Isles in northwestern Ontario.
South Africa produces 83% of the world’s supply of platinum, with the Soviet Union being the second- largest producer.
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