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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-24-neu> [abgerufen am 18.04.2024].
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| Titel | Humboldt’s account of the gold and platina district of Russia | ||||
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| Jahr | 1831 | ||||
| Ort | London | ||||
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Nachweis in: Arcana of Science and Art: Or an Annual Register of Useful Inventions and Improvements 4 (1831), S. 215–216.
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| Sprache | Englisch | ||||
| Typografischer Befund | Antiqua; Auszeichnung: Kursivierung; Fußnoten mit Asterisken; Schmuck: Kapitälchen. | ||||
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|215|
The following account is part of a letter from M. Humboldt toM.
Arago:—“We spent a month in visiting the gold mines ofBorisovsk, the
malachite mines of Goumeselevski and of Tagilsk,and the washings of gold and
platinum. We were astonished atthe petitas (waterworn masses)
of gold, from 2 to 3lbs., and evenfrom 18 to 20lbs., found a few inches below the
turf, where theyhad lain unknown for ages. The position and probable originof
these alluvia, mixed generally with fragments of greenstone,chlorite slate, and
serpentine, was one of the principal objectsof this journey. The gold annually
procured from the washingsamounts to 6,000 kil. The discoveries beyond 59 deg. and 60
deg.latitude become very important. We possess the teeth of fossilelephants
enveloped in these alluvia of auriferous sand. Theirformation, consequent on local
irruptions and on levellings, is,perhaps, even posterior to the destruction of the
large animals.The amber and the lignites, which we discovered on the easternside
of the Ural, are decidedly more ancient. With the aurife-rous sand are found grains
of cinnabar, native copper, ceylanites,garnets, little white zircons as brilliant as
diamonds, anatase,alvite, &c. It is very remarkable, that in the middle and
northernparts of the Ural, the platinum is found in abundance only on the|216| western European side. The rich gold-washings of the
Demidovfamily, Nijneï-tagilsk, are on the Asiatic side, on the two
accli-vities of the Bartiraya, where the alluvium of Vilkni alone hasalready
produced more than 2,800lbs. of gold.“The platinum is found about a league to the east of the line ofthe separation of waters (which must not be confounded with theaxis of the high summits,) on the European side, near the courseof the Oulka, at Sukoi Visnin, and at Martian. M. Schvetsov,who had the good fortune to study under Berthier, and whoselearning and activity have been most useful during our travels inthe Ural, discovered chromate of iron, containing grains of pla-tinum, which an able chemist at Catherineburgh, M. Helm, hasanalyzed. The washings of platinum at Nijneï-Tagilsk are sorich, that 100 puds (about 400 lbs. Russian) of sand afford 30(sometimes 50) solotniks of platinum, whilst the rich alluvia ofgold at Vilkni, and other gold washings on the Asiatic side, donot give more than 1½ to 2 solotniks in 100 puds of sand. InSouth America, a very low chain of the Cordilleras, that of Cali,also separates the auriferous and non-platiniferous sands of theeastern declivity (Popayan,) from the sands of the isthmus of theRaspadura of Choco, which are very rich in platinum as well asgold. M. Bousingault may, perhaps, already have thrown a newlight on this American formation, and his observations will derivesome additional interest from those which we have made in thisplace. We possess pepitas of platinum, of many inches inlength, in which M. Rose has discovered beautiful groups ofcrystals of the metal.“As to the greenstone porphyry of Laya, in which M. Engel-hardt has observed little grains of platinum, we have examined iton the spot with much care, but the only metallic grains whichwe have been able to detect in the rocks of Laya, and in thegreenstone of Mount Belayr-Gora, have appeared to M. Rose tobe sulphuret of iron; this phenomenon will be a subject for newresearch. The work of M. Engelhardt on the Ural seemed tous to be worthy of much praise. Osmium and irridium have alsoa particular locality, not amongst the rich platiniferous alluvia ofNijnei-Tagilsk, but near Belemboyevski and Kichtem. I insistupon the geognostical characters drawn from the metals whichaccompany the grains of platinum at Choco, Brazil, and in theUral.”*
humboldt’s account of the gold and platina district ofrussia.
* Edin. Journal Nat. and Geog. Science.