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Elements; August 2008; v. 4; no. 4; p. 227-232; DOI: 10.2113/GSELEMENTS.4.4.227
© 2008 Mineralogical Society of America
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The Platinum-Group Elements: "Admirably Adapted" for Science and Industry

James M. Brenan*

* Department of Geology, Earth Science Centre, University of Toronto
22 Russell St, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3B1, Canada
E-mail: j.brenan{at}utoronto.ca


Figure 2
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  		FIGURE 1 Detail of the Davy Safe-Lamp (A) employed in British coal mines, with the Pt wire modification (J and H) used to catalyze methane oxidation (after Davy 1817). REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LONDON

 

Figure 3
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  		FIGURE 2 A portion of the periodic table containing the highly siderophile elements, which includes the platinum-group elements, rhenium, and gold. Elements are depicted with their atomic number, crystal structure, and melting point. COURTESY OF H. PALME

 

Figure 4
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  		FIGURE 3 Samples of "platina" recovered from the placer deposits in the Choco district of Colombia. Similar material was described by William Lewis to the Royal Society of London in 1754 and served as the feedstock for the first purification of Pt, Pd, Ir, and Os by Smithson Tennant and William Wollaston. The field of view is 5 cm wide (each nugget is about 3-5 mm in length). Sample is from the mineralogy collection of the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle (#4.283; Picture D. Brabant, MNHN). PHOTO COURTESY OF JEAN-PIERRE LORAND

 

Figure 5
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  		FIGURE 4 Front and back faces of the Wollaston Medal presented to Sir William Logan (first director of the Geological Survey of Canada) in 1856. The front of the medal depicts William Wollaston, the benefactor of the award. The medal is cast in palladium, which Wollaston discovered in 1805. The Wollaston Medal is the highest award bestowed by the Geological Society of London. NATURAL RESOURCES CANADA IMAGE NRCAN-4374, USED WITH PERMISSION OF NATURAL RESOURCES CANADA. HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN IN RIGHT OF CANADA

 

Figure 6
Figure 6
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  		FIGURE 5 Phase contrast photomicrographs of E. coli cultured in growth medium containing (A) 8 ppm of platinum as the neutral species [PtCl4-(NH3)2]0 and (B) less than 6 ppm of platinum as the doubly negative species [PtCl6]2-. Magnified 600x. The image in (A) shows the development of filamentous forms, in contrast to the normal sausage shape shown in (B), indicating the inhibiting effect of [PtCl4-(NH3)2]0 on cell division, but not on growth. From Rosenberg et al. (1967). COPYRIGHT 1967 CBY THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY. USED WITH PERMISSION OF AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY IN THE FORMAT MAGAZINE VIA COPYRIGHT CLEARANCE CENTER

 

Figure 7
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  		FIGURE 6 Single crystal of the mineral sperrylite (PtAs2) from Noril'sk (Russia). The sample is from the mineralogy collection of the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle (#193.27; picture D. Brabant; MNHN). PHOTO COURTESY OF JEAN-PIERRE LORAND

 

Figure 8
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  		FIGURE 7 Backscattered-electron image depicting an aggregate of platinum-group minerals included in a chromite grain from the Mayarí-Baracoa ophiolite belt of eastern Cuba. The inclusion consists of distinct grains of irarsite (IrAsS) and laurite (RuS2). The laurite contains a core of Ru-rich erlichmanite (OsS2) surrounded by a layer of Os-poor laurite grading to Os-rich laurite at the rim. USED WITH PERMISSION FROM SPRINGER SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA: GERVILLA ET AL. (2005; FIG. 4G)

 

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  		FIGURE 8 The quaternary system Ru-Os-Ir-Pt depicting the composition of platinum-group element alloys from world-wide placer deposits (after Cabri et al. 1996). The minerals in this system are either hexagonal (osmium, ruthenium, rutheniridosmine) or cubic (platinum, iridium). The majority of platinum-group minerals found in placer deposits are Ru-Ir-Os-Pt and Pt-Fe alloys. Rhodium and palladium are typically minor constituents of these phases. The yellow shaded region corresponds to the miscibility gap in the quaternary system, as defined empirically by the alloy compositions, and is consistent with experimental data in the Ru-Ir, Os-Ir and Os-Pt binary systems. Figure from Exploration and Mining Geology, volume 5, no. 2; REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE OF MINING, METALLURGY AND PETROLEUM

 




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