The Strange & Forgotten Rush in Tasmania For A Rare Metal
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- Опубліковано 2 чер 2024
- #tasmania #minerals #metal #rush #gold #goldrush #prospecting #goldprospecting #volcaniceruptions #volcanoes
The rush for Osmiridium in Tasmania is relatively unknown and forgotten about in present day, but in the early 1900s, Tasmania became the primary producer for the rare platinum group element known as Osmiridium, which was a mixture of osmium and iridium. These elements are used in various applications, from the manufacture of pen nibs, to electronic components and more.
Osmiridium was originally viewed as a contaminant during the gold rushes in Tasmania during the 1800s, and much of it was discarded. Miners were actually penalized if their gold contained osmiridium as it was viewed as an undesirable element and it complicated the smelting process for the gold. It was only later on, when prices for this metal surged, that it became the focus of prospectors. When the Russian empire collapsed the price for osmiridium, which largely came from Russia, further surged and many set out to find it in placer deposits and alluvial streams. In terms of geology, osmiridium was shed from metamorphosed ultramafic rocks which were erupted onto the surface during a turbulent period in the Cambrian era, and they were later metamorphosed during the Devonian period, which served to further concentrate the osmiridium within the host rocks.
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Instant view... Awesome mate 👍 actually bloody awesome cos I love Tas saphires
Thanks for watching mate! I appreciate it :)
I have joined patreon, and I am awaiting an invite to discord
That was interesting. Thanks. I prefer these short form videos as I don’t have a lot of time to watch longer form clips.
despite any laws Tassie was manually worked for gold by the old timers (individuals) just like the other states and little harm was done to the environment. Its the activities of corporates that destroy environmental values at scale to a point where nothing can be done to return the premining ecology.
Agreed! The old timers had it easy. The laws are enforced way more stringently now unfortunately :(
Before 1970s my grandfather was a lead engineer at Mt.Isa QLD. He devoloped a better process for slag and was paid $1million, most mines still use his modern method, he left the company which is today BHP which has been fine and my grandfather purchased land in Brisbane and devoloped it into affordable housing. My point is today no company would never compensate it's workers for such improvements, most are forced to sign an NDA contract just to be employed.
Well Tsar Nicholas throne wasn't so much abdicated as stolen after he was murdered along with his wife and all their children.
I cackled when I heard, "was abdicated" and then felt a bit guilty 😬
Judeo-Bolshevisks...then as now. Murdered their pet dogs as well.
Yes, I don't think "abdicated" can be used as a transitive verb. Then again, "disappeared" seems to have been adopted in that way - as in, "thousands of people were disappeared during the reign of Augusto Pinochet."
Yeah, nah, Nic was "disappeared" BUT did you know that he is purported to have owned some of the first ever Leonberger dogs imported to Russia? I actually have a pic!
@@Hochspitz
Nice!
That was a very interesting video. I have never heard of osmiridium before. The Tassie prospecting laws do sound unfair. My guess is that it is about maintaining state revenue.
So glad you found it interesting! Thanks for watching! :)
I have found some nice platinum group specimens detecting Victoria and wondered how they came to be there . Interesting, cheers 🍻
Very interesting. Where in Victoria? I have been on the hunt for PGMs for a while now.
There are still piles of gold tailings rich in it that have been discarded.
We used to rummage through them as kids.
Very cool stuff!
Great topic, OzGeology! Really enjoyed this while on coffee break.
When we were in Tasmania in winter a number of years ago, we poked around for a look near Lake Gordon at the Adamsfield conservation site, after I got curious having read about it. Adamsfield was one of the many locations from which osmiridium was taken, and at Newell Creek along the rainforest walk (Mount Jukes lookout nearby is a fantastic view and well worth seeing, too). I think there were deposits in the Northwest of Tasmania that were worked earlier than Adamsfield. I think it was also mined Northwest of Launceston, Southwest of Beaconsfield, maybe Andersons Creek not quite as far as towards Holwell Gorge Falls?
I have this bad lifelong habit of getting curious about things.
Very cool stuff! They were definitely worked earlier than the Adamsville site.
@@OzGeologyOfficial My wife notes that I also worked the distilleries in the north-west earlier than those in the south, but that's just because she makes me do things I like.
That was a very informative video, I had no previous knowledge about the
Russian production of this rare elements. My suspicion is, it came to Earth via an enormous impact, which caused an antipodal reaction linked to one of the impacts you covered in previous episodes.
I liked that you included Levi's Chanel in this episode, he produces great content in gold prospecting and wild nature.
Thank you and I will join as your effort is appreciated.
Thank you so much. It's certainly possible that occurred. Levi is an absolute legend in my eyes that's for sure.
On this subject, I was about to write a lengthy comment regarding Levi and, some of his mates as I totally agree with your opinion, and I am of the opinion that you possess an ability that escapes me, you are concise.
Back to Levi, the way I see it , there are two types of content creators ones that have a large following for reasons I can't understand, and ones deserving of more. Levi is the latter.
Oh, keep at it , let us know the development of your gold strike. I hope you acquire the ore crusher?
I seem to remember that during a gold rush in the German colony of Papua just before WW1 Australian placer miners found Osmiridium contaminated their gold. A German assayer/chemist offered to "clean" their gold for a low fee. He kept the Osmiridium and sent it back to Germany, where it was in great demand by the Armament Industries for tool hardening when making preparations for the coming conflict.
Smart man haha!
Some of my ancestors came from England to Tasmania and they worked in the Osmiridium mines. I think tbey came looking for gold. That is the only reason i know what Osmiridium is
Very cool! I'd love to work on some osmiridium. One day haha.
I wish they'd found the gold 🙂
One of the uses was as plating on phonograph needles. Still have a part box of them with the big slogan of "Osmium Plated" across the front of the box.
Very cool! Thanks for commenting!
Cool. 👍
ive been prospecting her in tad for 30 years had lots of trips with levi and many others into some stunning remote areas its a brilliant hobby and a great australian past time , great vid mate cheers
Sounds great! Thank you so much for watching!
Thank you for the information, it was very interesting.
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching!
Teaching us about our history too.
My family loves your content! keep up the great work and love to see tassie put on the map! grew up on the west coast at Tullah and have fond memories of fossicking and catching yabbies!
That is awesome! Thank you so much. I appreciate all of you :)
Great vid mate, be keen to hear your take on geology from walhalla through to woodspoint jamieson on the dykes..
Great idea! I'll add it to the list :)
As a Tasmanian, fascinating indeed 👌.
Thank you so much for watching! I’m glad you found it as fascinating as I do 😊
@@OzGeologyOfficial always. I've been watching for years now, and you always put out informative and interesting stuff 👌.
gold in every 2nd mountain range from Grampians to Cooktown
Tassie is a very special place. It should indeed be kept as wild and pristine as possible. The fauna and flora has a hard enough time as it is without mining. Instead Australia should figure out a way to stop "giving away" $billions worth of gas.😉
you wouldn't know your arse from your elbow. Tassie needs mining.
individuals including miners who hand mine should be allowed to use the forests with some regulation. We need to find as many reasons as possible to encourage individuals in society to have strong relationships with natural places. Otherwise we end up with a society of people who largely value nothing outside of their homes and towns and cities. And it becomes easy for corporations to destroy everything we have left.
Right, only OTHER places should be mined for the elements in your computer.
I think low impact mining is a possibility, but Tasmania is definitely a wild and pristine place that's for sure. I am a big believer in being able to make money off the land though. Many Aussie families are doing it tough and it's a shame they have no alternative like they used to have. Gold rushes occurred there but the land is still as wild and pristine as it was prior to European colonization.
@@OzGeologyOfficial Exactly. My own business is essential to mined land rehab in Qld. I have extensively observed historical hand mining activity here and obviously I can see what large scale mining does by comparison. Im not against either except there are unique places we should never let the large ops into. Otherwise the large operations produce the things that modern populations use however we need balance and we especially need ordinary people to have strong relationships with the less modified environment. These places are often State Forests and NPs.
Interesting video brother
Appreciate it Kishen! Thank you for watching!
The thing about prospectors is, they NEVER EVER reveal all of what they find. That includes Tassie prospectors. I remember chatting with Archie at Harrietville Vic and was reliably informed that any prospector stupid enough to brag about what he found was soon separated from it. There are no checks when leaving Tassie for your parcel of gold so it's pretty easy to sell it for cash in Melbourne.
Yeah but when the government sees the new car you bought and the tax not equating to it that's when things start to turn south.
@@OzGeologyOfficial Lol 😂..come on now....that assumes our government & it's bureaucracy to be far more competent than is the case.
To any law enforcement that may be watching this video and reading these comments: THIS PERSON COULD NOT BE MORE WRONG! prospectors are hard working, honest people. They declare everything they find. It's just that people, like my grandfather, are really unlucky. They can search for gold across Tasmania their whole lives and not find ANYTHING.
Nor does an entire cash based economy definitely doesn't exist to facilitate the sale of gold.
@@OzGeologyOfficial Living high would certainly be a bad idea. But a successful prospector wouldn't be that silly :)
@@PG-tas Methinks you protest too much..... when a prospector finds a single nugget that's too big to hide, he'll be honest. When he finds a few pickers they will become pocket money. There most certainly is a cash for gold economy, just like opals are openly sold for cash.
Thanks
Thanks for watching :)
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Do you mean the territory in Antarctica that Australia has claimed? I made one video linking the goldfields of Victoria to Tasmania a while back.
Yes please make it ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤@@OzGeologyOfficial
Yes I want video about antarctica territory australia ❤❤❤❤❤❤@@OzGeologyOfficial
Came from tazzy boys
My favorite prospecting channel! Thanks for watching :)
Perun?
So if you mind something in Tessmania you cannot sell in TAS. can you mind something in TAS and then go to New Zealand and sell it Can you sell it anywhere else can I leave the country Can you mine anything at all in in Tasmania whether or not you can sell it or not I mean if you found the biggest diamond ever it'd be yours so long as you don't sell it right?
You can but you face quite a backlash if the government finds out. You'll lose your miners license and might even be criminally charged. But yes you are allowed to "keep" what you prospect.
If you trust the postal service enough. I gather they can't detect certain things when they're wrapped in alfoil. Credit cards and a host of stuff.
😟 I want some osmiridium contaminated gold.
Me too 😞
So, there is no democratic governance framework in Tassie then, and no elected representative who knows the difference.
Yup. It's a massive shame.
I get so interested in geology until men start blabbering millions and billions of years old….😒 I respect what they believe but just letting y’all know what I’m thinking when I watch these videos.
Yeah well that’s the way science works. It’s not that hard to get a definitive date on a rock.