Known to pre-Columbian South Americans and taken to Europe
about 1790.
Remarks
Silvery-white metal, lustrous, malleable, ductile.
Unaffected by oxygen and water, only dissolves in aqua-regia and fused
alkalis. Used in jewelry, drugs, catalysts, etc.
Diagnostic tests:
There are no simple chemical tests for platinum. The element is usually
found as an alloy or a sulfide mineral with other platinum group metals. Atomic Absorption
Spectroscopy is used for quantitative analysis and Energy Dispersive
Analysis of X-rays (EDAX) is used for qualitative analysis.
References
Emsley, J., 1991; THE ELEMENTS : Sec. Ed.,
Clarendon Press, Oxford, 251 p.
(* - Mineral Name Is Not IMA Approved)
(! - New Dana classification added or changed from Danas New Mineralogy)
(? - IMA Discredited Mineral Species Name)
There are 50 minerals with Pt in the Mineralogy Database.