The Lost Platinum Ledge of Death Valley

[JohnWhite]

May have found where to look for the article you might have read years ago amigo, a listing for a lost platinum lode, written by someone named Taylor, in the September 1972 issue of True West magazine, page 32. Unfortunately I do not have a copy, but will keep an eye out for it.

It does not ring a bell Oro...I have given up hope on the subject...Platinum is not as hot a topic as gold...And a Spanish Real de minas is just a side note in the annals of history...I gave away 90 pounds of ore from said real...Who knows how much said ore is worth to collectors

Ed T

 

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[Oroblanco]

It does not ring a bell Oro...I have given up hope on the subject...Platinum is not as hot a topic as gold...And a Spanish Real de minas is just a side note in the annals of history...I gave away 90 pounds of ore from said real...Who knows how much said ore is worth to collectors

Ed T

Okay amigo - it is funny though I ran across that listing AFTER I had quit looking! It sounds like it could be about the same lost platinum lode. Anyway platinum is a good buy right now, cheaper than gold - good time to go dig up a few hundred pounds to hold on to and then sell when the price goes back up.

It is hard to guess what your ore might have been worth, I would not beat myself up over it amigo since we can't know what it could have been worth. As specimens, cut and polished, it could have been a lot - or who knows maybe it didn't have that much platinum in it and would not have been worth much at all. You know where you found it and can always go back and get more, whenever you decide to go for it!

Good luck and good hunting Ed I hope you find the treasures that you seek.
Oroblanco

 

[JohnWhite]

Okay amigo - it is funny though I ran across that listing AFTER I had quit looking! It sounds like it could be about the same lost platinum lode. Anyway platinum is a good buy right now, cheaper than gold - good time to go dig up a few hundred pounds to hold on to and then sell when the price goes back up.

It is hard to guess what your ore might have been worth, I would not beat myself up over it amigo since we can't know what it could have been worth. As specimens, cut and polished, it could have been a lot - or who knows maybe it didn't have that much platinum in it and would not have been worth much at all. You know where you found it and can always go back and get more, whenever you decide to go for it!

Good luck and good hunting Ed I hope you find the treasures that you seek.
Oroblanco

It is as George Carlin used to say...Haven't you ever noticed that when you are looking for something it is always in the last place that you looked for it...Or something to that effect...It is a little of his irony that he was so good at...

Have you seen how much Rhodium has gone up Oro...Wouldn't it be something IF my ore is Rhodium bearingOf course I would have to have a platinum assay performed and such...Oh well...Platinum itself is a good investment...And Palladium is a good one for those who believe Palladium fuel cells are the future of the automotive industry... And what of RutheniumIt is a new requirement that all new homes constructed in CA mush have solar...Who know though OroWe'll just have to wait and see...

Ed T

 

[Oroblanco]

Hey Ed I found an assay result on that Boss mine in Goodsprings Nevada, it was 250 ounces of platinum per ton along with several hundred ounces of gold! I would be doing backflips if I found such a vein!

 

[BillA]

Hey Ed I found an assay result on that Boss mine in Goodsprings Nevada, it was 250 ounces of platinum per ton along with several hundred ounces of gold! I would be doing backflips if I found such a vein!

Oro - is that a believable assay ?

 

[Oroblanco]

Oro - is that a believable assay ?

Well anyone is certainly free and welcome to believe it or not - they published two assays in a Nevada newspaper, both had very high values of both gold and platinum. The news caused a lot of excitement at the time but the platinum values dropped right off to sub-economic fast, the assay samples must have just been a couple of rich specimens from a pocket that pinched out immediately. It sure would have gotten me excited if I had such results though, and I would be drilling and blasting just like they did in hopes of finding even more. Anyway the fact that there was such a pocket seems believable enough, and this would mean that it is certainly possible there is a vein of it somewhere in the region just as the treasure magazine article claims.

Of course platinum prices are not as high as they normally are, but heck I won't turn my nose up at silver at that is less than twenty bucks an ounce so don't judge me!

Sadly, this fact of minerology - that small rich pockets of precious metals are occasionally found - have led to more mines being run far past the point of profitability, which used to be referred to as "re-burying the wealth they had found" by spending the money from the first profits to keep drilling and blasting away when the pocket had pinched out. Maybe we prospectors have learned that lesson by now, but I don't know - if I hit such a rich pocket, I might waste a lot of money drilling and blasting in hopes of finding more too.

Coffee?

 

[JohnWhite]

Hey Ed I found an assay result on that Boss mine in Goodsprings Nevada, it was 250 ounces of platinum per ton along with several hundred ounces of gold! I would be doing backflips if I found such a vein!

Now that sounds like a vein that the ancients would find and work Oro...

And as I have stated...The so called hailstones that I brought back would cause most treasure hunters to head for the hills...But I am not your everyday prospector who would do such a thing...I just had one heck of a time finding it and bringing a small amount back to share with the world...lol...I wonder what the true values of my ore are...

Oh well...I could care less...IT is where IT Is...And y si Dios quiere...One day someone will find IT...And I do wish a certain baseball fan lots of luck in his search...That is IF he is searching for the where the IT came frome...hahaha

Ed T

 

[JohnWhite]

Well anyone is certainly free and welcome to believe it or not - they published two assays in a Nevada newspaper, both had very high values of both gold and platinum. The news caused a lot of excitement at the time but the platinum values dropped right off to sub-economic fast, the assay samples must have just been a couple of rich specimens from a pocket that pinched out immediately. It sure would have gotten me excited if I had such results though, and I would be drilling and blasting just like they did in hopes of finding even more. Anyway the fact that there was such a pocket seems believable enough, and this would mean that it is certainly possible there is a vein of it somewhere in the region just as the treasure magazine article claims.

Of course platinum prices are not as high as they normally are, but heck I won't turn my nose up at silver at that is less than twenty bucks an ounce so don't judge me!

Sadly, this fact of minerology - that small rich pockets of precious metals are occasionally found - have led to more mines being run far past the point of profitability, which used to be referred to as "re-burying the wealth they had found" by spending the money from the first profits to keep drilling and blasting away when the pocket had pinched out. Maybe we prospectors have learned that lesson by now, but I don't know - if I hit such a rich pocket, I might waste a lot of money drilling and blasting in hopes of finding more too.

Coffee?

At times I hope that my kids do not catch the bug...I remember when my dad would tell of his adventures to Red Mountain and other areas with his pals...I believe it is part of the Randsburg district...Anyhow...He would tell us about the remoteness and the fun they'd have camping out under the stars...I didn't know that I was bitten by a stink bug back then...And I hope my kids continue to believe that I am a nut...lol...

I hope...They live a regular boring Life...Without wondering IF they themselves can find where that darned ore came frome...

Ed T

 

[Samanthy]

My family once had an interest in the old Socorro Mine, southeast of Salome , Arizona. Records show the mine produced ore that was .5 oz gold and 5 oz silver per ton. My youngest daughter had an interesting piece of ore from it. She showed it to someone knowledgeable and he said it was 30 percent platinum! So I wonder if there might be a lot more platinum around Arizona. It’s something the early miners didn’t know or care about at the time.

 

[JohnWhite]

I paid a visit to my shrink just the other day...And he told me that I should give up on my hopes and dreams of returning to the area my little silver came from...He also informed me that I should give up on trying to find another diamond....I told him that IF I could prove the provenance of my ore it would be quite valuable as specimen ore... I told him that I could make more money selling specimens than actually trying to develop it into a producing platinum mine... But who knows for certain

Maybe there is platinum in AZ...There were not many prospectors who were looking for it back in the day...The Office of Mineral Exploration had declared it a strategic metal way back when and they were even willing to pay a portion of the cost of searching for it...Who knows how many people knew of this...

I hope that my shrink was wrong...I told him that I was in no rush to get back on a mule...We will just have to wait and see...How much might the specimens from a mine that the Spanish first worked platinum be worth

Ed T

 

[BillA]

Ed - did the Spanish mine platinum ?

 

[JohnWhite]

Ed - did the Spanish mine platinum ?

Well Bill...According to some of the written history...The Spanish were the ones who first discovered platinum...Then there are claims that Pliny the Elder and others, as there are some who claim that King Solomon had items of platinum in his temple...So who can say for certain Bill...There are some who have stated that the King of Spain ordered the platinum bearing mines of the New World closed and all of such mines banished from history due to some shady characters who mingled it with gold...And at the time the platinum did not have value as did the gold and those who ended up buying said mixture began to complain about being cheated by the scrupulous merchants or miners...

So it is hard to say if the Spanish mined platinum Bill...But IF I have stumbled upon an area that the Spanish worked that is platinum bearing and IF it can be proven that it is one of the areas ordered banished by the King of Spain...How much might said ore from said area be worth

I still like to believe that I have stumbled upon King Solomon's Ophir...lol...And said platinum bearing area is older than the Spanish believed...I can still continue to dream...Can't I

Ed T

 

[Oroblanco]

Not trying to upstage Ed, but yes the Spanish mined platinum - by accident while mining silver, gold and other metals. They thought it to be silver until it did not 'behave' as silver should.

Ed - I would highly recommend to see a second head shrinker for a second opinion. Unless you are very crippled up and can't walk, there is no reason why you can't go back out again.

 

[JohnWhite]

Not trying to upstage Ed, but yes the Spanish mined platinum - by accident while mining silver, gold and other metals. They thought it to be silver until it did not 'behave' as silver should.

Ed - I would highly recommend to see a second head shrinker for a second opinion. Unless you are very crippled up and can't walk, there is no reason why you can't go back out again.

I know this is an old thread...But I thought I should reply to the post from Oro...

I have already had a second and third opinion Oro...Shoot...I may have even had more opinions than that...Most of the shrinks I have seen over the years believe that my responses about the ore and diamond I believe to have found...Are only part of my delusions...Or part of my schizophrenia...Who can say for certainAs IF I could have given away a paragon diamond...Or have been to an ancient platinum mine...

IF it is God's will...I will return to Reno or even Mexico one of these days...We will just have to wait and see Oro...I am pretty certain I can make my way back to the areas that I have been to...But IF I will be able to find another diamond...That is a question that is very uncertain...I believe I have a greater chance of finding my way back to the platinum bearing area...Or at least the area I believe to be platinum bearing...

Who knows OroIF anyone finds the platinum bearing area...The price of platinum jest may go up quite a bit...It jest may be part of my paranoia in believing that the price of platinum is so low due to some people manipulating it so not many prospectors will go out and search for said deposit...lol...But what do I knowhehehe

Ed T

 

[augoldminer]

I don't sweat the small stuff Oro...I have even read that platinum was mined in the Searchlight district of NV...


Ed T

i have invesagated this story and the problem was that the promoter was using a Platinum Lamp in his spectrograph. sure it would show platinum lines from the lamp but not the ore.

 

[crashbandicoot]

What just happened here?Color me confused!