- 注册
- 2002-10-07
- 消息
- 402,227
- 荣誉分数
- 76
- 声望点数
- 0
Miners gave up on a site in the Pontiac back in 1951, convinced there was nothing worth taking.
But that was before the price of palladium hit $800 an ounce. And rising.
Now a Montreal company called Sphinx Resources is back, investing more than $1.3 million for the right to look for palladium on Grand Calumet Island, 110 kilometres west of Gatineau.
Palladium is a rare metal that is mostly used in catalytic converters in automobiles. Almost all the world’s supply comes from Russia and South Africa.
Sphinx says in a press release that a series of tests on the site between 1951 and 1964 showed nickel and copper, but the concentrations were too low to make the site attractive for mining.
At the time, however, no one looked for palladium. Eventually they realized the geology of the site was similar to a site in Russia that combines copper, nickel and palladium.
More testing last year, using rock samples taken in 1958, showed palladium — so far in concentrations of a few grams per tonne of rock.
But that is enough to be worth further investigation, and Sphinx will resume testing in March.
More to come.
tspears@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/TomSpears1
查看原文...
But that was before the price of palladium hit $800 an ounce. And rising.
Now a Montreal company called Sphinx Resources is back, investing more than $1.3 million for the right to look for palladium on Grand Calumet Island, 110 kilometres west of Gatineau.
Palladium is a rare metal that is mostly used in catalytic converters in automobiles. Almost all the world’s supply comes from Russia and South Africa.
Sphinx says in a press release that a series of tests on the site between 1951 and 1964 showed nickel and copper, but the concentrations were too low to make the site attractive for mining.
At the time, however, no one looked for palladium. Eventually they realized the geology of the site was similar to a site in Russia that combines copper, nickel and palladium.
More testing last year, using rock samples taken in 1958, showed palladium — so far in concentrations of a few grams per tonne of rock.
But that is enough to be worth further investigation, and Sphinx will resume testing in March.
More to come.
tspears@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/TomSpears1
查看原文...
