Platinum???

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Hi just wanted to see if anyone had any ideas on if this is platinum or not,
Came from crushing a small part of quarts its heavier the gold & seams to have a crystal shape to it, anyway any thoughts greatly appreciated,
I will get around to testing it..
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arsenopyrite ore defiantly not platinum but platinum is more of a silverly colour like your forks where as this is slightly silverly green witch indicates that its most likely arsenopyrite but this is a good indicator for gold bearing reefs/lodes
 
Perhaps try it using an ohm-meter.
Pyrities has low conductivity (would likely need a meg-ohm scale), whilst Platinum is highly conductive (use a low k-ohm scale).
 
Thankyou all for your response it's greatly appreciated,
Might be the photo color but it's not got a green tinge more silver white with some gold colouration there has been platinum found in the area and also historical gold mines within a few km of where this was found, we have numerous fault lines in the vicinity and is a very mineral ritch area, still not convinced on arsonopyrite as it's to heavy was thinking more platinum amalgmated with gold.
 
Hopefully we will be getting an xrf analyzer soon at work so send your samples and I'll test them.
 
Almost certainly not - I am unaware of any platinum minerals in quartz veins in Australia although it is known overseas and not impossible (South Africa). There are geological reasons for this. Natural platinum itself is quite soft, under 4 (unlike synthetic alloys) and extremely malleable - unfortunately some of the other platinum metals (eg iridium) can occur naturally alloyed with it, and can make it harder. Natural osmiridium, the most widespread platinum group mineral, is 6 - 7. I have never seen natural platinum-gold alloy - perhaps it can occur but I suspect it would be as rare as hen's teeth. Platinum minerals are extremely easy to identify - just get a pure enough piece out of the quartz and determine its SG.
 
Put turn a a little bit in a fire on a brick. If its Platinum It will still look exactly the same when the fire dies down If its Arsenopyrite it will give of fumes of arsenic, and sulphur dioxide (bad Juju ) and turn reddy brown or black. Dont breath the fumes. Baadd Juju for you if you do.
 
There was very small traces of Platinum in only a few, ( maybe 2 quartz Reefs ), in Victoria.
One location was the Coopers Creek Copper Mine, can,t recall the other?

They were only found by assay, and the mineral present was not payable been an extremely LOW GRADE.
 
Swinging & digging said:
There was very small traces of Platinum in only a few, ( maybe 2 quartz Reefs ), in Victoria.
One location was the Coopers Creek Copper Mine, can,t recall the other?

They were only found by assay, and the mineral present was not payable been an extremely LOW GRADE.

Have to disagree slightly (I worked on Coopers Creek). The mineralisation there is pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite-sperrylite and other sulphides and it is not in a quartz vein but occurs in an altered hornblendite dyke as sulphide blebs. The platinum minerals are not visible in hand specimen but visible in polished sections I have made for microscopic study. The grade was actualy high, but the tonnage was low and I don't think it was recovered from the copper in the rather mickey-mouse smelter. I have likewise looked at the other known ones in Victoria - not in quartz reefs but in mafic dykes and ultramafic rocks (eg serpentinite) as sulphide blebs.

The only example I know is in a quartz vein in the Bushveld area of the Transvaal where I used to work - considered very unusual (the Waterberg mine)

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