Platinum In Arizona?
15 messages in this thread
Hi,
I was wondering if anyone out there knows more about this Pt play in Arizona.
Apparently, a company named Global Platinum and Gold has got 62 million tons
of:
0.205 oz/t Au
0.864 oz/t Pt
0.128 oz/t Pd
24.23 oz/t Os
13.65 oz/t Ir
1.12 oz/t Ag
on their Oro Grande Mine property near Wickenburg, Arizona.
I found these numbers to be a little too high for my liking. Anyways, any info
on the geology etc. would be greatly appreciated,
Bruce
Where at in AZ? I worked for AMAX Exploration in Tucson for a spell, is the
mine any where near there?
Hi Todd,
According to what I have the property is at the Oro Grande mine near
Wickenburg, Arizona. I live in Quebec, Canada, and have never been to Arizona,
so I haven't a clue as to what city that is near.
Bruce
Hi, Bruce–
Those numbers are surprising to me, with osmium and iridium concentrations
greatly exceeding platinum and palladium. The Encyclopedia of Minerals lists
"osmium" as occurring in only one district in Russia, though I expect to find
lesser amounts wherever platinum is.
I see in my atlas that Wickenburg is NW of Phoenix, ~~50miles or so. I may not
know the geology, but I know there are fluorescent willemite and eucryptite
from a mine in that area, so a zinc orebody and a lithium-bearing pegmatite are
near at hand. Fluorescent wickenburgite from the "Rat Tail Claims" might be
from that area (is that too obvious a guess to be true?), indicating lead, no
surprise where zinc is found. But the platinum, gold, etc. I would think to be
a placer deposit.
I wonder how easy to extract those platinum metals would be. Does the "heap
leaching" process used for gold work for platinum group members also, perhaps
with some modification?
–Doug
Hi Doug,
Thanks alot for the response. I don't really believe the numbers myself. So far
12 out of 12 geologists don't believe them either. I'm just following up on a
rumor that I heard. I would imagine that the deposit is placer too, although
I'm basing this just on these results.
I don't think you can heap leach Pt; it doesn't have the same affinity for
cyanide that gold has. It would be easy to concentrate the heavies, but
difficult to split the gold from the Pt. Apparently this company has come up
with a secret process.
Thanks again!
Bruce
Does anyone know of a "secret process" related to mining that wasn't also
related to a stock offer/promotion?
Lanny
Hi Lanny,
I agree 100%. I want to expose this sham for what it is. It's the numbers that
get to me. Almost 8:1 Pt to Pd. I say impossible. But, since I am not in
Arizona, and will not get the opportunity to go, I need someone who knows about
this area (an "expert") to confirm it. That way I can calmly confront the
people hyping this Bull****.
Bruce
There are a lot of mineral collectors in Arizona who are also mineral
exploration geologist. I shall make a few inquiries and see if any I know have
heard of this platinum deal. No promises, but if so, I pass word on to you.
Lanny
Hi Lanny,
Thanks alot! I'll probably be offline for a couple of weeks, so no
preassure.<g>
Bruce
Hi, Bruce–
It occurs to me that if I wanted to come up with a swindle, I would have a ore
sample from somewhere else analyzed and report those numbers (and maybe salt
the mine with such samples), or crib the numbers from some report from another
mine – either way I would not come up with such weird numbers unless I happened
to grab a sample from that northern Urals area. They seem _almost_ too weird
to be anything but honest. If it is a scam, the perpetrators are either clumsy
or think many people will figure as I just did.
The need for a "secret process" is the real joker here. If gravity separation
were always economical, there would be little heap leaching of gold; I do not
know how close those concentrations were to the limit where gravity separation
makes sense (the price of osmium and iridium would be critical in this case,
with those numbers). Then there is the problem of isolating Pt from Au and
whatnot (if cyanide works for Au and not Pt, why not use it here?). I wonder
how profitable this proposition would be if the secret process had to be
replaced with traditional practice?
–Doug
It's been a number of years since I lived in the area, but I used to do some
exploration around Wickenberg. The numbers sound off, to me, too. There are
known low-grade platinum ores in the vicinity, but the one commercial mine to
exploit the stuff played out years ago.
Hi, Tom–
Welcome to the forum!
The presence of noticeable platinum in the area lends a little more credibility
to the claims. It would a strange con that uses such squirrelly numbers yet is
smart enough to choose a known platinum mining area.
–Doug
Hi Tom,
Thanks for the response. I'm ticked off about this co. because they're
obviously trying to net some widows and orphans on this info. Genereaux sounds
French. Are you French? I'm living in Quebec, that's why I'm asking..
Bruce
Yea, I think that they are a scam.
I'm 1/2 French – my family has been trickling into the States from France and
Quebec for the last 6 generations.
Bruce-
Yes, those numbers are probably too good to be true. Talk to the people at
the AZ Bur Mines and Geology in Tucson. This type of stuff come through all
the time. It is their position that there are no primary deposits of PGM in AZ
although I think this is a little too harsh. There have been rumors for years
that many of the big Cu companies are secretly accumulating lots of PGM as
byproducts. It turns out that some have a little for catalysts but that's
about all.
One should always keep an open mind but get your own samples and assays-PGM
assays are not trivial. Sometimes, some people are not trying to be dishonest
but just get caught up in some exaggerated expectations, augmented by
"assayers" or should we say "half-ass-ayers".
The secret process should give it away as a flaw in logic. They will then
probably say that normal assaying methods for PGM will not work. Back in the
big promo days in NV in the late 70s early 80s we offered a "truth squad"
service to check on such claims-they are not so common now as then.
Again, though, strange things sometimes happen, but proceed very very
cautiously. If you need some reliable assayers for PGM let me know.
Steve