Platinum Metals Review - Volume 4, Issue 1, 1960

In the glass industry of today platinum and its alloys are accepted as essential tools in the successful production of a wide variety of glass-ware, from the humble bottle to the finest optical glass, from the electric light bulb to the fibre glass insulating material. This article, to be published in two parts, reviews the most important of these applications of platinum and outlines some newer developments.

Where low and stable values of contact resistance are required in a printed circuit, the contact surfaces are locally electroplated with a noble metal. The physical properties of palladium, combined with its relatively low cost and the ease with which it can be applied, make it an ideal metal for this purpose.

Concluding his article from the last issue of ‘Platinum Metals Review’, the author continues the story of platinum mining and metallurgy in the Spanish-American colonies during the eighteenth century. At one time platinum was ordered to be thrown into the river as a nuisance, but scientific reports from Europe prompted the Spanish Government to seek useful outlets for the metal.