Prices are expected to remain firm into the foreseeable future. Most metals are sold by producers but 

 a part of sales are handled by dealers. Current prices are: platinum, $109-112 per troy ounce (dealers' 

 price $210-220); palladium, $37-39 (dealers' price $39-40); iridium, $185-190 (dealers' price $205); 

 osmium, $300-450 (nominal); rhodium, $220-225 (dealers' price $258-260); and ruthenium, $35-60. 



Possible substitute materials. The high price of the platinum group metals exposes their field of use to 

 inroads by substitutes and it restricts the expansion of their use. There is considerable substitution 

 within the group itself, as well as alloying with metals of the group to increase hardness or strength. 

 Nickel alloy wire is used for resistors instead of platinum wire where extreme stability is not required. 

 Tungsten competes with platinum and palladium for use as electrical contacts where arcing occurs. 

 Cladding with platinum-group metals is a form of substitution where reliance is put on cheaper metals 

 for mechanical strength and upon the noble metal for surface properties. In the field of catalysis nickel 

 boride and the oxides of nickel and cobalt compete for use in fuel cells. The life of platinum reforming 

 catalysts in petroleum refining is extended by treating the reformed distillate with a nickel catalyst. 

 Vanadium is used in place of platinum in making sulphuric acid. 



Potential from marine sources.^ ^ Platinum has been produced in the United States from one placer 

 area at Goodnews Bay, Alaska and as a by-product in the mining and refining of other metals, notably 

 gold. Although the Goodnews Bay deposits lie very close to the sea, the area offshore has apparently 

 been covered by about 200 feet of glacial debris and any deposit would lie beneath this thick blanket of 

 overburden. 



Total production at Goodnews Bay is estimated at three to six million ounces. Present knowledge of 

 the regional geology of the area indicates that it would be unreasonable to infer the presence of more 

 than 50,000 ounces in concentrated deposits offshore. There is Uttle possibility that a deposit this size 

 would support mining costs, and until some economic means can be found to mine through 200 feet of 

 overburden it is unlikely that significant quantities of platinum will be mined in the Alaska area. 



Platinum also occurs in beach sands elsewhere in Alaska and along the coast of California but the 

 deposits are so small that it is doubtful the areas are worthy of consideration. The outlook for offshore 

 platinum mining looks poor over the remainder of the 20th century. 



OYSTER SHELL AND CALCIUM CARBONATE MATERIALS 



Uses. These materials are essentially limestone and the principal uses are the same as for limestone. 

 Limestone is one of the few raw materials that are absolutely basic in modern industry and necessary to 

 our modern civilization. Major uses are in the manufacture of portland cement and as a source of lime, 

 for which there are over 7,000 requirements. Most of these uses depend on the caustic properties of 

 calcium oxide or calcium-magnesium oxide. In some cases it serves to combine with and remove 

 unwanted materials from a desired product as in the manufacture of steel and the refining of sugar or 

 petroleum. Many of the uses of limestone are almost as old as recorded history. 



Prospective supplies and prices. Gross resources of calcium carbonate raw materials, both on land and 

 beneath the sea, are virtually unlimited in the United States and in the world. Locally, however, 

 resources may be sparse or totally lacking, particularly for higher quaUty raw materials for chemical or 

 metallurgical use. 



In the United States oyster shell has reported value of $ 1 .50 per ton f.o.b. dredge; crushed limestone 

 is valued at $1.35 per ton f.o.b. quarry. Actual delivered prices at use site may be much higher 

 depending upon factors such as distance from production plant and competition in the local market. 

 Typical prices for crushed stone in metropolitan areas average about $2.75 per ton. World prices vary 

 locally and are generally assumed to be in proportion to the local stage of economic development and 

 per capita wealth. 



Possible substitute materials. Limestone, marble, chalk, calcareous marl, and dolomite as well as shells 

 and calcium carbonate "mud" are materials that are used as a source of the various lime products. 



Summarized largely from Ocean Science and Engineering, Inc. report. 



VII-147 



