USA, 1836-1892 : Iridiosmine & Osmiridium (Ore, Grains)

“The nomenclature of the natural alloys of osmium and iridium” By M. H. Hey, M.A., D.Sc. Dept. of Mineralogy, British Museum (Natural History) [Taken as read 7 November 1963] 

Summary. An historical review of the nomenclature of the natural 0s-Ir alloys suggests that the most suitable names are: For the cubic alloys, osmiridium (Steffens, 1824), i.e. osmium iridium; and for the hexagonal alloys, iridosmine (Breithaupt, 1827), i.e. iridian osmium, for alloys with 20% or more lr, and native osmium for the very rare alloys with little or no Ir. Iridosmine may, if desired, be divided into two varieties, nevyanskite and sysertskite, following Rose and Haidinger.

Natural alloys of osmium and iridium have been known since 1805 (W. H. Wollaston), but their nomenclature is still confused. Wollaston called the mineral 'Ore of Iridium', although he knew osmium was an important constituent, and a number of later authors called it Iridium (e.g. R. Jameson (1816), J. F. L. Hausmann (1816), and W. Haidinger (1845)).

A. Aikin (1815) referred to it as Alloy of Iridium and Osmium,¹ J. J. Berzelius (1819) as Osmiure d'Iridium, and R. J. Haüy (1822) as Iridium osmié, and the last two terms were widely used, especially in France,² for the next sixty years, but were gradually ousted by more conventional species names.

K. C. yon Leonhard (1821) introduced the name Osmium-Iridium, shortened by H. Steffens (1824) to Osm-Iridium and modified to Osmiridium by C. F. Naumann (1828)³ and to Osmium-Irid by G. Rose (1833) ; these terms, like Berzelius's and Haüy’s, emphasize the iridium content. The osmium content is emphasized in A. Breithaupt's name Iridosmin (1827) or iridisches Osmin (1832), modified by C. F. Naumann (1828) to Iridosmin, and in W. Whewell's Iridium-Osmium (1828).

1. This term is attributed by C. Hintze (1904) and by C. Palache, H. Berman, and C. Frondel (1944) to W. Phillips (1819).

2. F.-S. Beudant (1832) wrote Osmiure d'Irridium.

3. Naumann did not consider his name new, attributing it to von Leonhard. C. Hintze (1904) and C. Palache, H. Berman, and C. Frondel (1944) attributed it to E. F. Glocker (1831).

C. U. Shepard (1832) wrote Irid-Osmium and appears to attribute this term to Schwetzau,¹ while E. F. Glocker (1839) preferred Iridosmium.² 
          The first, and during this initial period of nomenclature development the only analysis of the mineral was made by T. Thomson (1826), who found, on Brazilian material supplied by Wollaston, Ir 72.9%, Os 24.5%, Fe 2.6 %; but his method would gravely underestimate the osmium content.

In 1833 G. Rose found that material from the Urals consisted for the most part of a light-coloured mineral agreeing in crystal form and general properties with the Brazilian, mixed with rare fragments of a much darker coloured mineral with the same crystal form but which were appreciably denser and which gave a strong smell of osmium tetroxide when heated before the blowpipe, and thus presumably contained more osmium; this was confirmed by analyses by J. J. Berzelius (1834), which showed up to 50% Os in the light-coloured mineral and about 75% in the dark.

Both varieties were included by Rose and Berzelius under the name Osmium-Iridium, and by E. F. Gloeker (1839) under Iridosmium, but W. Haidinger (1845) called the species Iridium (despite its high osmium content), and named the two varieties: the lighter and whiter, osmium-poor Newjanskit, and the denser, darker, osmium-rich Sisserskit;³ Sysertskite is much the rarer variety.

J. F. L. Hausmann (1847) and C. Hintze (1904) accepted this division,

but preferred the names Osmiridium (Os-poor) and Iridosmium (Os-rich); in the 5th (1868) and 6th (1892) editions of Dana's 'System', there is one species, Iridosmine, with Newjanskite and Sisserskite (5th) or Nevyanskite and Siserskite (6th) as varieties, but in the 7th (1944) edition Iridosmine is used for the Os-poor material and Siserskite for the Os-rich. V. I. Vernadsky (1909) and A. E. Fersman and A. G. Betekhtin (1941) use Nevyanskite (Невья́нскит) and Sysertskite (сысертскит) but add a third variety, Osmite,⁴ with 80% or more Os, the natural existence of which was doubtful.

All the natural alloys examined prior to 1938 appear to have been

1. I have not been able to trace this author, beyond a mention in Breithaupt (1827), to whom he supplied platinum concentrates.

2. C. Hintze (1904) and C. Palache, H. Berman, and C. Frondel (1944) attribute the name Iridosmium to J. F. L. Hausman (1847).

3. As the localities are Невья́нск (Nevyansk) and сысерт (Sysert), the correct English forms of these names are Nevyanskite and Sysertskite; many other spellings have been used.

4. Osmite had already been used by R. Hermann (1836) for the supposed compound Ir-Os, a Nevyanskite in Vernadsky's nomenclature.

 

hexagonal and isomorphous with pure osmium,¹ whereas the natural platinum-iridium alloys had long been known to be cubic, and pure iridium was shown by A. W. Hull and W. P. Davey (1920) to be cubic. Then in 1938 O.E. Zvyagintsev discovered a natural cubic Os-Ir alloy, with 31% Os; he showed that the break in the mix-crystal series falls at about 32-35%Os, and wrote:

According to the classification of V. L Vernadsky osmiridium² should be divided

into two varieties: nevanskite and syssertskite. The boundary of these two varieties

lies in the region of a 50% content [of Os]. In the author's opinion it would be more

expedient to refer the boundary between syssertskite and nevyanskite to the region

of 35% osmium content and to consider as nevyanskite the cubic varieties of

osmiridium and as syssertskite the hexagonal ones.  However, lest the already

established classification should be altered, it seems better to subdivide the system

of natural osmium-iridium alloys into three parts: (1) from 0 to 35% osmium--

minerals of the native iridium group, (2) from 35 to 50% osmium-nevyanskite,

(3) from 50 to 70 % osmium--syssertskite. (No minerals have been found with an

osmium content above 70 %).

Modern conventions of nomenclature would distinguish two species in the osmium-iridium alloys, cubic and hexagonal, but neither A.E. Fersman and A.G. Betekhtin (1941) nor C. Palache, H. Berman, and C. Frondel (1944) make any mention of 0.E. Zvyagintsev's cubic phase. The present author (M. H. Hey, 1950) and F. V. Chukhrov (1960) use Iridosmine for the hexagonal phase (with Nevyanskite and Sysertskite as varieties) and Osmiridium for the cubic phase; this nomenclature recognizes the isomorphism of Iridosmine and Osmium on the one hand and of Osmiridium and Iridium on the other.

Recently C. Lévy and P. Picot (1961) have extended the known series of natural Os-Ir alloys to an almost pure osmium, and have confirmed O.E. Zvyagintsev's results, but unfortunately they propose a new system of nomenclature: they drop the names Iridosmine, Nevyanskite, Sysertskite, and Osmite. They use Iridium osmifère for the cubic alloys, and Osmium iridifère and Osmiridium for hexagonal alloys with more and less than 49.75 % Os (by weight; 50% atomic proportions), and they write:

Nous redefinissons ainsi le terme d'osmiridium qui originellement avait ete un compose contenant Ir 72,9, Os 24,5 et Fe 2,6 (Glocker, 1831)... Iridosmine (iridosmium) qui vient d'iridisches osmium et qui a ete employe par Breithaupt (1827, 1832) pour des composes contenant plus de 50% d'osmium.  C'est s tort que Beudant (1832) a applique ce nom a un iridium osmié analyse par Thomson.

1.H Debray (1882) and W. Prinz (1893) obtained artificial octahedral crystals of Os, Ir, and intermediate alloys ; but these may have been paramorphs after a high-temperature cubic modification.

2. In this paper Zvyagintsev apparently uses the term Osmiridium to cover all Os-Ir alloys, but I have only seen the foreign language edition; in an earlier paper (1934) he uses Osmiridium in the German summary, but {xxx} [osmian iridium] in the Russian text, although he is referring to the hexagonal phase.

This passage is inaccurate in several respects: the name Osm-Iridium was originally assigned (by Steffens, 1824) to a hexagonal alloy from Brazil, of then unknown quantitative composition, the same as Haüy (1822) had termed 'Iridium osmié'; this alloy was later analysed by Thomson (1826), who found 24.5% Os but almost certainly underestimated this element. The name Irid-Osmin was applied by Breithaupt (1827) to unanalysed material from Nizhne-Tagilsk, and was clearly regarded by him as synonymous with Osmium-Iridium and Iridium osmié (1832); there is no evidence that it contained more than 50% Os.

In 1831, when the only available quantitative analysis was Thomson's and the existence of separate cubic and hexagonal phases and of a series of mix-crystals from 32 to 100% Os was unsuspected, E.F. Glocker's footnote was clearly justified:

Da das Iridium der vorherrschende Bestandtheil ist, so kann auch nach den bekannten Gesetzen der Zusammensetzung der WSrter die oben gebrauchte Benennung dieser Gattung 'Osmiridium' allein als die richtige angenommen werden.

But with our present knowledge of the system separate names for the cubic and hexagonal phases are required. For the latter Iridosmine, that is, iridian osmium, seems preferable, since the crystal structure is the same as that of osmium whether osmium or iridium predominates; the very rare material near the osmium end of the series may best be termed Osmium, but to divide the series at 50 atomic per cent calls for accurate analyses and is undesirable; if any subdivision of Iridosmine (taken to cover 32 to ~80% Os) is desired, Haidinger's names, and his distinction according to colour and behaviour when heated, seem quite suitable.

For the cubic phase, Iridium could be adopted, distinguishing platinian, osmian, and aurian-osmian varieties; but since the iridium-platinum and iridium-osmium (cubic) alloys are fairly readily distinguished, retention of the names Platiniridium and Osmiridium seems preferable. If the name Osmiridium is not to be used for the cubic phase, it should be rejected altogether.

 

For natural Osmiridium, the poorest Ir quality, least desirable and cheapest ore was assumed 75-80% Os, 25-20% Ir. The best and most desirable (whitest) ore should be 77% Ir, 20% Pt; the average lowest Iridosmine: 55% Ir, 27% Os, 10% Pt.

Grades: 
Best:  Ir 77% / Pt 20%
Medium:  Ir 50-55% / Pt 10%
Worst:  Ir 47% / Os 49%

c. 1833: Ir 47% / Os 49.34 - Ir 50% / Os 50% 



1834: Hawkin's first gold pen with an iridium point

1835: (Rev.) Aaron Porter Cleveland, of New York, acquired patent-rights for £ 300. and a percentage arising from the sale of the pens.

1836: Cleveland hired Levi Brown of Detroit to manufacture pens; Brown hired John Rendell to set up modern manufactory.

Citation: A System of Mineralogy: Including an Extended Treatise on Crystallography...; James Dwight Dana (1837)


Citation: Manual of Mineralogy: Or, The Natural History of the Mineral Kingdom... ; James Nicol (1849)



Misspelling "Iridium," ignoring the Osmium content, and noting the importation of the points, a Quaker journal from Philadelphia didn't seem well-informed about this PGM.

c.1847:  1 Troy  Ounce Iridosmine? (whols., avg. ore/grains)  =USD$ 7. - 10.

Citation: Friends' review: a religious, literary and miscellaneous journal, Vol. 2, Enoch Lewis (1849), p.334

c.1852:  Estimated Ore Quality Percentages, at Market

1852: 1 Troy  Ounce Iridosmine? (whols., avg., ore/grains) ~USD$ 15.

90%  1 Ozt. Iridosmine (whols., ungraded ore/grains)  = USD$ 12.
7.0%  1 Ozt. Iridosmine (whols., medium grains)  = USD$ 20.
2.5%  1 Ozt. Iridosmine (whols., finest grains)  = USD$ 30. 
0.5%  1 Ozt. Iridosmine (whols., extra-fine grains)  = USD$ 40. 

c.1845?: 1 Troy  Ounce Rhodium (whols., finest grains)  = USD$ 120. 

Citation: The Friend, Vol. 26, By Enoch Lewis (1853), p.117
 

c.1850s: 1 Ozt. Iridosmine (finest grains) >USD$ 250.

c.1857/8:

c.1858:




c.1866 account:  not identifying 'superior grains' as the price factor



c.1854: 1 Ozt. Iridosmine? (whols., avg., ore/grains) ~USD$ 13.75

c.1859: 1 Ozt. Iridosmine? (whols., avg., ore/grains) ~USD$ 21.50

c.1859  Estimated Ore Quality Percentages, at Market : medium grade inflation 150 - 230%.

75%  1 Ozt. Iridosmine (whols., ungraded ore/grains) ~USD$ 15.

15%   1 Ozt. Iridosmine (whols., better grains) =USD$ 30.

7.0%  1 Ozt. Iridosmine  (whols., medium grade grains) =USD$ 50.

3%  1 Ozt. Iridosmine  (whols., finest grains) =USD$ 75. 

Citation: The Technologist, Volume 1 (1861) pp.267-8

c.1876: The 1850's High Price was reproduced for decades; in fact, 'best-quality' had fallen by ~ -70% to -80%. 

c. 1885: 1 Ozt. Iridium (intrinsic)  =  USD$ 20.

c.1883: 1 Ozt. Iridium (imported, refined, whols.) = USD$ 74.76


c.1883  Estimated Ore Quality Percentages, at Market : better grades inflation 100%

75%  1 Ozt. Iridosmine (whols., ungraded ore/grains) = USD$ 20.

15%   1 Ozt. Iridosmine (whols., better grains) =USD$ 60. ?

7.0%  1 Ozt. Iridosmine  (whols., medium grade grains) =USD$ 100. ?

3%  1 Ozt. Iridosmine  (whols., finest grains) =USD$ 125. ?

c.1885  1 Ozt. Osmiridium (Ural Spot: 50% Os, 35% Ir) = USD$ 2.
c.1885  1 Ozt. Ir (Ural Spot: 35% Ir @.999) ~ USD$ 5.71
c.1885  1 Ozt. Iridosmine (Ural Spot: 77% Ir) = USD$ 6.
c.1885  1 Ozt. Ir (SPb Spot? 77% Ir @.999) ~ USD$ 7.78

Citation: THE CHEMICAL NEWS. By William Crookes,F.R.S.&c (1885) p.2

Large Russian stockpile of low-quality Osmiridium

1889: : 1 Troy Ounce Osmium (refined, imported, whols.)  = USD$ 35. - 40.

c.1892:  1 Ozt. Iridium  (Market, ore) =USD$ 15.    

c.1892:  1 Ozt. Osmium (Market, refined) =USD$ 60.




1891?:

Given the absence of price quotes for other PGMs, it's apparent the Iridosmine ore was paid simply for the percentage of Iridium, irrespective of the other PGMs.

c.1897:  1 Ozt. Iridium  (Oregon Spot Market, ore @.999) ~USD$ 7.14 

c.1893: average Iridosmine analysis, Oregon ores = 99.47% Pt Group Metals

Ir = 34.67%
Os = 46.79%
Rh = 12.55%
Pt =    0.67%
Ru =   4.79%
 

1893/4: 1 Ozt. Iridium (refined, wholesale?)  =  £6.25 (USD$ 30.50)

1894: 1 Ozt. Iridium (refined, wholesale?)  = Fr 157.50 (USD$ 30.54)