22 HEYL— PLATINUM IN NORTH CAROLINA. [February 7, 



granite quarry a few miles south of the village no form of mining 

 is practised in the neighborhood, although some fifty miles farther 

 south, near Cedar Falls, gold is extracted from a rock deposit in 

 which it occurs rather irregularly. 



The beginning of the platinum story goes back some fifteen or 

 sixteen years. At that time, according to neighborhood tradition, 

 the son of a Mr. Harralson, a landowner in the vicinity, picked up 

 in the creek a stone which attracted him by the yellow crystals scat- 

 tered through it. Supposing it to be gold, he showed it to his 

 father, who sent some of the rock for examination to a Mr. Wilson, 

 at that time chemist for a phosphate concern in Baltimore. Mr. 

 Wilson saw at a glance that the supposed gold was pyrite, but thought 

 it worth while to see if the pyrite was auriferous, and directed his 

 assistant, a Mr. Walsh, to make some assays. Mr. Walsh found no 

 gold, but encountered something else which puzzled him for a while, 

 until he finally obtained a reaction for platinum. 



The quantities of platinum shown by this sample of rock were 

 surprising. Four assays in Mr. Wilson's laboratory gave the fol- 

 lowing figures in ounces per ton: 4.76, 2.40, 2.85, 3.60. More rock 

 was sent up at Mr. Wilson's request, and four more assays were 

 made, all of which were blank. Greatly incensed at what he sup- 

 posed a trick, Mr. Wilson visited the ground and nearly came to 

 blows with Mr. Harralson. Finally convinced of the latter's sin- 

 cerity, Mr. Wilson proceeded to investigate the matter on a large 

 scale. He turned the creek out of its bed and put down a charge of 

 dynamite. Samples of this rock again showing platinum, a car load 

 was sent to the Mecklenburg Iron Works, in the same state, and 

 there ground and washed on a Wilfley table. The following results 

 were obtained : 



Concentrates 30 to i. 



Ounces Per Ton in the Concrete. 

 97.2 

 18.0 

 61. 2 

 42.0 

 10.2 

 24.6 

 25.2 

 420 



