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Alexander von Humboldt: „Humboldt’s Account of the Gold and Platina District of Russia“, in: ders., Sämtliche Schriften digital, herausgegeben von Oliver Lubrich und Thomas Nehrlich, Universität Bern 2021. URL: <https://humboldt.unibe.ch/text/1829-Lettre_de_M-21-neu> [abgerufen am 04.10.2024].
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| Titel | Humboldt’s Account of the Gold and Platina District of Russia | ||||
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| Jahr | 1831 | ||||
| Ort | Charleston, South Carolina | ||||
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Nachweis in: United States Catholic Miscellany 10:49/385 (4. Juni 1831), S. 389.
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| Sprache | Englisch | ||||
| Typografischer Befund | Antiqua; Spaltensatz. | ||||
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The following account is part of a letter from M.Humboldt to M.
Arago.—“We spent a month invisiting the gold mines of
Borisovsk, the malachitemines of Goumeselvski, and of Tagilsk, and thewashings of gold and platinum. We were astonish-ed at the
pepitas, [water-worn masses] of gold, from2 to 3lbs and even from 18 to
20lbs. found a few in-ches below the turf, where they had lain unknownfor ages. The position and probable origin of thesealluvia, mixed generally with fragments of green-stone, chlorite slate,
and serpentine, was one of theprincipal objects of this journey. The gold
annu-ally procured from the washings amounts to 6000kil. The discoveries beyond 59° and 60° latitudebecome very important.
We possess the teeth offossil elephants enveloped in these alluvia of
auri-ferous sand. Their formation, consequent on localirruptions and on levelling, is perhaps, even poste-rior to the
destruction of the large animals. Theamber and lignites, which we
discovered on theeastern side of the Ural, are decidedly more ancient.With the auriferous sand are found grains of cinna-bar,
native copper, ceylanites, garnets, little whitezicrons as brilliant as
diamonds, anatase, anvite, &c.It is very remarkable, that in the
middle and nor-thern parts of the Ural, the platinum is found onlyon the western European side. The rich gold wash-ings of
the Demidov family, at Nijnei-tagilsk, areon the Asiatic side, on the two
acclivities of Barti-raya, where the alluvium of Vilkni alone has
alrea-dy produced more than 2800lbs. of gold.
The platinum is found about a league to the eastof the
separation of waters which must not be con-founded with the axis of the
high summits,) on theEuropean side, near the course of the Oulka, at
Su-koi Visnin, and at Martian. M. Schvetsov, whohad the
good fortune to study under Berthier, andwhose learning and activity have
been most usefulduring our travels in the Ural, discovered chromateof iron, containing grains of platinum, which an ablechemist at Catherineburgh M. Helm, has analyzed.The washings of
Platinum at Nijnei-Tagilsk are sorich, that 100 puds (about 400lbs.
Russian) of sandafford 30 sometimes 40 solotniks of platinum, whilstthe rich alluvia of gold at Vilkni, and other goldwashings
on the Asiatic side, do not give more than1½ to 2 solotniks in 100
puds of sand. In SouthAmerica a very low chain of the Cordilleras,
thatof Cali, also separates the auriferous and non-plati-niferous sands of the eastern declivity Popayan fromthe sands of the
isthmus of the Raspadura of Choco,which are very rich in platinum as well
as gold.
Humboldt’s Account of the Gold and Platina Districtof Russia.