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Platinum

Platine

MNHN N°57.360

visu_508 infos
FROM : Nizhme, Tagilsk, Oural, Russia
SIZE : 4.5 x 3.3 x 2.2 cm
WEIGHT : 204.5 gr

general description

This nativ platinum nugget measures 4.5 x 3.3 x 2.2 cm and weighs 204.5 grams. It possesses partly polished aspect.

This specimen comes from Nizhme in Russia. It has been offered by Tsar of Russia Nicholas I to the Academy of Sciences of Paris after his death in 1855. Thereafter, the collection of the Academy of Sciences has been transfered in the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle in 1857. This sample has got the number 288 in the Tsar collection.

This sample is currently exposed in the Treasure Room, within the Gallery of Mineralogy of the Muséum.

Photographie : Louis-Dominique Bayle, © MNHN.
The Species page
Identity card
SPECIE : Platinum

HISTORY : Name from the Spanish "platina", diminutive of "plata" meaning "silver"

Species described in 1750 by William Brownrigg (1712-1800), English physician and chemist

Type-locality : Pinto river, Papayan, Cauca region, Colombia

CHEMICAL FORMULA : Pt
CRYSTAL SYSTEM : Cubic
COLOR : Steel gray to dark gray
DIAPHANIETY : Opaque
LUSTER : Metallic
STREAK : Steel gray
MORPHOLOGY : Cubic crystals, stretched ; seldomly as nuggets
HARDNESS : 4,0-4,5
DENSITY : 21,472

CHEMICAL CLASS : I - Elements
GROUP : Rhodium
STRUNZ CLASS BEFORE 2001 : 1/A.14-70
STRUNZ CLASS AFTER 2001 : 1.AF.10
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