BLAIR NELSON

Platinum

History Not widely recognized until the 16th century Spanish Conquistadors discovered it in Colombia Couldn’t separate gold from Platinum, discouraging Used in Pre Colombian artifacts Coned the term “little silver” W.H Wollaston discovered a way of producing malleable Platinum in

the 1850’s Thought of as worthless, thrown overboard to “ripen” only good for

counterfeiting gold

Properties #78 of the periodic table Platinum group elements Ruthenium, Rhodium, Palladium, Osmium, Iridium, Platinum Dense, lustrous, heavy metal. Weighs more than gold, appears whiter than silver Malleable, ductile, chemically inactive 0.3 grams of Platinum can create a 3km long wire Very high melting point of 3,216 degrees Fahrenheit, highly unreactive

Geological settings Found most often in nickel and copper ores, some native deposits Dark Silicate Rocks with minerals containing Iron. Only 0.004% of Earths crust, about the same as gold South Africa- Bushveld Complex Produces an estimated 90% of the worlds Platinum alloys Great Norilsk Deposits, Russia. Ural Mountains. 26lb South America- found in sand, where the old Platin Stillwater Complex Montana, only known ore deposit in country Sudbury, Ontario

Native Platinum Nugget. Siberia,

Russia

Can be found in unusual places

Ural Mountains, Russia

Stillwater Platinum Ore

Nickel-Copper-Platinum Ore

Beartooth Mountains Montana

Sulfidic serpentintite-platinum-palladium ore Stillwater mine

Chromite UG2 Platinum Reef, S.A

Granular Chromite

Mining Underground, some open pit mining done on the UG2 Reef in Bushveld

Complex South Africa by far has most mining companies All operate close to each other. Anglo, Impala, Lonmin Top 3 In South Africa, 4th largest in Russia- Norilsk Nickel Only place in the world where the ore is high enough to specifically

target Anywhere else in the world obtained from nickel and copper mining

Merensky Reef-1.5 ft. thick

UG2-Below Merensky Reef, 3 ft. thick

Entrance To Stillwater

Processing/Refinery 10 to 40 tons of ore and 6 month process to produce 1 oz. of Platinum New techniques as of 2012 have created up to 75% less waste than

standard refining techniques (Hoover and Strong) Closed system, better for environment, and up to 3 times faster A lot of money in recycling

After ore is blasted, brought to surface, crushed to smaller particles Wet chemical treatment, aka froth flotation Dried, placed into furnace of 1500 degrees Celsius Matte is formed, ran through converters to remove iron and sulfur Solvent extraction (Aqua Regia) distillation, and ion exchange

techniques

Major Uses

High tech Industry Unreactive, high temperature resistance Catalytic Converters main use (less waste and bi products) High end jewelry Petroleum Industry- separates gas from crude oil Electrical properties allow for disk drives, fiber optic cables All of these are increasing along with Car production. China especially Military –Heat seeking missiles, refueling cones

Price-Reliant on Auto Industry, and especially China-South Africa Controls most of the market-Investors skeptical

Geopolitical

Questions?