PLATINUM Documentary: Mining, Science and History

In this platinum documentary, we explore platinum mining, science, history, and the future outlook for this truly unique commodity.
As one of the lesser known, but nonetheless vital precious metals, platinum has a long history of being used for jewelry and ornamentation, reaching back to the ancient Egyptian empire, having been discovered on a coffin unearthed in Thebes, estimated to be from the 7th century BC.
Modern day uses of platinum include being a key element in catalytic converters for vehicles , as a catalyst in the chemical industry, and even in the creation of life-saving anti-cancer drugs.
In this platinum documentary, we explore this exclusive metal that befuddled miners and scientists alike when it was first discovered. Dubbed ‘platina’ or ‘little silver’ by the Spanish Conquistadors, the truth is, platinum is so much more than meets the eye.
Produced, Edited, and Narrated by Jesse Day: jesseday.ca
Follow me on Twitter: / jessebday
00:00 Intro
01:19 What is Platinum?
06:16 How is Platinum Mined?
08:37 A History of Platinum
15:09 The Future of Platinum
Music for What is Platinum? section: I Need to Start Writing Things Down by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Source: chriszabriskie.com/darkglow/
Artist: chriszabriskie.com/
#platinum #preciousmetals

[@sankalp3513]

Platinum is a dream metal for the chemist and materials Engineer. So versatile

[@hunt4redoctober628]

Back in the 1970's I was given a piece of rock from a mining company in South Africa with a 3mm wide vein of platinum and gold running through it, from the Merensky Reef, Rustenberg Platinum mines. I still have this rock sample today. It also triggered off a lifetime interest in Geology and collecting mineral specimens from across the world.

[@CommodityCulture]

That's awesome!

[@jonathancoutts7775]

Love to see it

[@eewilson9835]

Can you describe the lines, how do they lay, intersect with other minerals, or present themselves? Platinum and Gold are formed the same way, though we are all still learning. Might you describe it in legal format?

[@user-zu1qs3lz3k]

I live in rustenburg 🎉

[@akesha4138]

Can you post a clear image picture of the sample?

[@dsw1664]

I used to work in analytical chemistry where we'd use platinum for the electrolytic deposition of copper. One day we spent hours trying to find a platinum anode that had gone missing, after 4 hours we gave up. Next day the facility electrician was wondering why his soldering iron wasn't melting a piece of solder, even though it was hot. He'd picked up the platinum electrode thinking it was a piece of tin/silver solder that he'd left behind!

[@CommodityCulture]

Love it, great story!

[@wstavis3135]

Fun fact, Platinum is actually the color we call "silver," whereas Silver is actually white. My family used to recycle precious metals at our facilities in California. Working in the assay lab was great fun and interesting.

[@J-Anon-]

WTF are you talking about? I have silver, platinum, & palladium coins; they're all shiny silver color, not white.

[@thelasvegaskid]

Undervalued metal for sure.

[@CommodityCulture]

Agreed 🤝

[@farrukhahmad453]

Anyone Need Assets Manager , Accounts And Tax Manager, Money Manager I do work with safe and Secretlly

[@kenweis7913]

Platinum is way undervalued for how rare it is

[@CommodityCulture]

Platinum is a purely industrial commodity, therefore it's rarity does not correlate with its price. It is priced for demand from industry, if it wasn't used for industrial purposes, it's value would essentially be zero.

[@MrAnderson352]

It really depends on how long they can keep the lie going eventually people will want something real and platinum will make an excellent currency along with other rare metals.

[@MrMedictom]

I used to be a silver-plating room operator for a medical device manufacturer. During my training, I was told that platinum is actually the best metal conductor of electrical current, but silver was a good cost-efficient alternative. The two years I spent on that job sparked an interest in chemistry (metallurgy in particular) that I wish I'd discovered in high school. This is a fascinating video, and I thank you for sharing it!

[@CommodityCulture]

Very interesting, and copper is generally used in place of silver for more common electrical applications because of its lower price. Thank you for watching!

[@xr1140]

That's the main problem of the current educational system, it doesn't know how to spark an interest in kids by telling them where and how the information it provided can and will be used.

[@dsadik666]

Gold is usually the best for conducting electrical stuff. But cost is the issue.

[@ps3301]

Please check the real scientific fact before making comments based on hearsay. Silver is the most conductive in the world.

[@maxwellblackwell5045]

​@@FirstLast-uf7wg you left out platinum

[@Osirus1972]

Very well done! I am an assayer at a palladium mine and I found the history to be very enlightening. Thank you.

[@CommodityCulture]

Very high praise coming from someone in the industry, thank you so much!

[@akosimakuletztv4344]

I wish to know about mine and minirals.. im greatfully happy to know about Platinum. Tnx to this channel

[@farrukhahmad453]

Anyone Need Assets Manager , Accounts And Tax Manager, Money Manager I do work with safe and Secretlly

[@Benjybass]

Platinum has also been used in the manufacturing of Flutes (for those who can afford them), such as William Kincaid’s Verne Q. Powell Flute. It was auctioned off at 187,000$ in 1986.

[@bencordell1965]

Come back platinum!!!!!

[@F.B.I-C.I.A]

You know what is even better and definitely cheaper and more common Polinium-210 it os so good looking and should definitely start being used in jewelry.😀

[@HolySoliDeoGloria]

8:45 The purpose of the French Geodesic Mission to the Equator was NOT to prove that the Earth wasn't flat (it's not), and it was not then widely believed (nor for many centuries before then) that the Earth was flat. The main purpose of the mission was to measure the length of a degree of latitude near the Equator, and thereby to calculate the Earth's radius. Part of the purpose was also to determine whether the Earth was wider around the Equator or around the poles.

[@AndreiMurgescu]

Yep. Stopped watching the video right there. :))

[@garysarratt1]

Is that when the English were trying to make a clock accurate enough to measure longitude?

[@HolySoliDeoGloria]

@@garysarratt1 The events occurred in the same time period (early 18th century), but were not pursuing the same things. From the Wikipedia article about the French mission, it was "carried out for the purpose of performing an arc measurement, measuring the length of a degree of latitude near the Equator, by which the Earth's radius can be inferred."

[@garysarratt1]

@@HolySoliDeoGloria Maybe I meant latitude, I don’t remember. I’d better look it up!

[@HolySoliDeoGloria]

No, you were correct. An accurate clock is critical for determining longitude. This was the great quest of the time in the field of navigation and one of the greatest pursuits in all of science at the time. Determining one's latitude is easy and can be accomplished by several straightforward methods without a clock.

[@sandmanslim4637]

Your platinum documentary got my attention. Your channel is incredible!

[@CommodityCulture]

Thank you very much, appreciate the kind words!

[@Beerbatter1962]

Super interesting and very well produced. I enjoyed the subject and learned aspects of the metal I didn't know.

[@CommodityCulture]

Glad it was helpful!

[@lowgyi5994]

Your channel deserves more viewers and subscribers

[@CommodityCulture]

Thank you really appreciate it!

[@dudemaker2845]

I stumbled across this channel about a month ago since I had to do research for a group project about Atomic Fuel and its rise. I was researching and researching when I stumbled across commodity culture! Now I don't only watch the videos for projects, but I was them for knowledge! well done :D (I just can't wait for the channel to explode)

[@CommodityCulture]

Thank you for the kind words and your support!

[@sandmanslim4637]

I found it by watching the documentary on Platinum, and simple put, so much interesting info I subscribed.

[@puresilver5071]

Good Video! Fan of platinum here.

[@CommodityCulture]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@mmariaveiga]

One note: The objective of the expedition in which António de Ulloa participated, wanted to identify precisely the shape of the Earth (how flattened is the Earth Globe in the Poles) not to demonstrate whether the Earth is flat. They needed to measure a meridian to do that. (Actually, to measure 2 meridians, the other in Lapland). Another note: Everybody knew in 1735 that the Earth is NOT flat. The expedition Magellan-El Cano (1519-1522), founded by the Spanish Crown had gone around the Globe: matter put to rest. I have found the rest of the clip very interesting.

[@J-Anon-]

Thank you. That bit & giving credit to Newton makes me doubt everything about this documentary.

[@richpaydirt]

This video was somewhat interesting as explorational history but there was very little information at all on the early and modern mining methods of platinum, extraction and production.

[@evebaker4740]

All your videos are great, ty for the education

[@CommodityCulture]

Appreciate that, happy you can get value from them.

[@johannesswarts1440]

Fascinating! An interesting story well told! Thank you!

[@CommodityCulture]

Thank you for watching!

[@farrukhahmad453]

Anyone Need Assets Manager , Accounts And Tax Manager, Money Manager I do work with safe and Secretlly

[@weldmachine]

The marks of a well produced video. This video definitely hits that mark. Good editing and information that makes you want to know more. Thanks for taking the time to produce this video.

[@CommodityCulture]

Thank you for watching and the kind comment.

[@ps3301]

Platinum is even less reactive than gold and used as catalyst more often. The only reason why gold is more expensive because of Human emotional and cultural reason (it is easier to use gold as currency due to its relative abundance). Hence higher trading volume leads to higher price.

[@lv4977]

Incredible job man 🦁

[@CommodityCulture]

Thank you!

[@toneloc7894]

You showed a scientist studying dry ice in a beaker. He looked like he was about to make a break through in dry ice technology

[@sebastianburnaz6760]

Nice documentary!

[@vytautasvaicys8745]

Top notch video. Surprised it is not a million views. I guess your content is too high of quality and not "viral enough." Keep up the good work. History always recognizes and rewards the greats.

[@CommodityCulture]

Thank you, really appreciate it and happy you enjoyed the video!

[@primetime8717]

KZbin doesn't like promoting positive, educated videos. But if he was posting some negative videos, he would easily be at million plus by now.

[@loundsx9390]

Got the million now

[@TasmanianWolves]

Platinum!

[@Australiaisupsidedown]

i lik gai pron

[@willcookmakeup]

This channel needs way more subs.

[@CommodityCulture]

Thank you!

[@triple_gem_shining]

Nice. I've wanted to learn more about platinum

[@CommodityCulture]

Glad you found the video useful.

[@guccilibrarian4728]

This is such a good idea for a channel - I'm glad I found it! I'm not an investor or anything - I just really like to learn about the resources we use so frequently in our lives without even knowing it. I'm going into the field of mining engineering, which is why this video on platinum piqued my interest, and now that it has, I'm excited to watch more of them!

[@CommodityCulture]

Thank you, I'm glad you find the videos useful and I also started this channel because I was interested in the same thing.

[@staninjapan07]

Fascinating, thank you. Though if you are going into enough detail to mention that platinum is blasted when mined, you might also mention how dirty a process mining is. A thought, not a criticism.

[@emmamovies7703]

in 1998 some americans had come to my grandfather’s village, they want to ask permission from my grandfather to be allowed to dig something in my grandfather’s land area, the american scientist promised a wage of a sum of money worth 1billions and will distribute 15 buffaloes to the villagers, but fortunately my grandfather rejected it because he felt something was wrong. only yesterday I got to know from my mother, She said the american scientists came to my grandfather’s village because they wanted to take the platinum that was in my grandfather’s land area. despite being persuaded by american scientists my grandfather reject their offers.

[@CommodityCulture]

That's an incredible story, thanks for sharing!

[@Acads72]

thanks for the video.

[@mraves9101]

As jewellry shop owner i can say one thing this metal is one of the hardest to work whit and to make it shine 😅

[@CommodityCulture]

Good to get some insight from someone who works with platinum, thank you!

[@jonathanparker2369]

Tell me about it! The majority of my work is plat, total pain in the arse

[@mraves9101]

@@jonathanparker2369 hahaha i feel u 😭

[@TIPPYtoeup]

That was good and enjoyed it. Thank you!

[@CommodityCulture]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@cinemaipswich4636]

The words "Silver Bullet" have been used since the first vampire movies, where it would kill him. Now "The Little Silver" is the new Silver Bullet where it helps make cancer drugs, to keep patients alive. Platinum is also used to make Integrated Circuit Chips to help vaporises metals in a vacuum, and lay up "one atom thick" on chips.

[@johnsongibbs6567]

great work on every level

[@CommodityCulture]

Thank you very much!

[@farrukhahmad453]

Anyone Need Assets Manager , Accounts And Tax Manager, Money Manager I do work with safe and Secretlly

[@raymondrose334]

I love these.

[@CommodityCulture]

Thank you!

[@asu4908]

cool video and concept. i see this being big!

[@CommodityCulture]

Thank you very much!

[@ramilparedes9930]

Very informative

[@CommodityCulture]

Glad it was helpful!

[@V72_]

My favourite metal is platinum. It’s fascinatingly dense and is so beautiful. (its also not as expensive as gold!)

[@CommodityCulture]

I love platinum as well.

[@mannyespinola9228]

Thank you for this video

[@CommodityCulture]

Thanks for watching!

[@robertguzman3113]

Thank you for your team_bringing history of past documents to a great present time video. Cheers to All !

[@CommodityCulture]

Glad you enjoyed it and happy you think there's a team, I'm a one-man show haha.

[@farrukhahmad453]

Anyone Need Assets Manager , Accounts And Tax Manager, Money Manager I do work with safe and Secretlly

[@platinum646]

I love this metal.

[@davidphillips8674]

The price of gold being 2x that of platinum is completely arbitrary. It’s only that way because gold is held as a “store of value” despite its uses being far fewer than platinum.

[@g-dcomplex1609]

Always liked platinum and its physical characteristics as a catalyst, until i acquired some iridium, and my interest in platinum group metals grew exponentially

[@IO-zz2xy]

Very interesting history. Many thanks Regards from South Africa

[@CommodityCulture]

Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for watching!

[@mstalcup]

By the 18th century, most people navigating a ship understood that the Earth wasn't flat. The spherical Earth model had already been proven scientifically.

[@triple_gem_shining]

Duh

[@mstalcup]

@@triple_gem_shining The video says the 18th century voyage was involved with proving the Earth was a sphere and it said that up until that point in history, the idea of a flat Earth was popular.

[@fiegenfiegen]

Sorry, that was pretty ridiculous in this video... The earth has been circumnavigated many times before Newton was born! The earth was known to be a sphere for two thousand years!

[@watdaschnitzel]

The purpose of the French expedition was to infer if the Earth’s shape was prolate or oblate. That is, what type of ellipsoid it was.

[@ayakashimoda4100]

Awesome video 👏🏻😎✨ I like it so much 😎👍⭐️⭐️⭐️

[@CommodityCulture]

Thank you my biggest supporter!

[@emanuelel7751]

Beautiful

[@yomeroyomismo8681]

Very concise and fun documentary....

[@CommodityCulture]

Thank you!

[@gooman989898]

Not going to lie dude, loved this content. Subbed and added this to a playlist on precious metals I watch when I'm hung over

[@CommodityCulture]

Glad you enjoy it! Being hung over seems as good a time as any for some precious metals education 🤣

[@paulcandiago9339]

Thank you

[@johnconnor4403]

That was one more perfect video ☺️👏🏻 can you make one with copper please? :)

[@CommodityCulture]

Thank you! I am definitely considering copper for a future episode :)

[@farrukhahmad453]

Anyone Need Assets Manager , Accounts And Tax Manager, Money Manager I do work with safe and Secretlly

[@johansmith4764]

Interesting!

[@well.thy.one.]

Just started stacking it, might as well learn about it....nice video.

[@CommodityCulture]

Thank you, glad you found some value here.

[@corwind3888]

@@geocam2 Precious metals are a store of wealth rather than an investment.

[@akesha4138]

Wonderful presentation, concise and factual. Good science these days is less common. Platinum is 30 times rarer than gold and yet commands less than 1/3 of gold's price. Investing in platinum is very tricky and the physical demand market is thin and fluctuates wildly.

[@chitranthirupathy6678]

Beautiful. I’m learning so much on my journey of stacking metal coins and bullion. ❤

[@CommodityCulture]

That's awesome. Thanks for watching and keep stacking!

[@caddieluck]

Nice video ... ! ❤ it

[@CommodityCulture]

Thank you so much 😀

[@lostinlife2700]

Make a video on extraction process and machinery involved

[@tobiasrietveld3819]

One of the first applications of platinum and one that was a big force behind raising the price of platinum to that of a precious metal, were fountain pen nibs in the 19th century. In some places were the alluvial gold was rich with platinum, it even triggered a second 'gold' rush.

[@ManMountainMetals]

Good 👍 job.

[@ioanbota9397]

Realy I like this factory so much

[@CommodityCulture]

Thank you!

[@user-to4on1fd8g]

Первые платиновые монеты были отчеканены в России в 1828 году! (The first platinum coins were minted in Russia in 1828!)

[@CommodityCulture]

That's awesome I didn't know that!

[@farrukhahmad453]

Anyone Need Assets Manager , Accounts And Tax Manager, Money Manager I do work with safe and Secretlly

[@peetsnort]

Fiberglass is made by extruding glass through a platinum tiny hole. The other use is to enable you to breathe ozone. Not pure ozone but when ozone goes through a platinum filter that converts the o3 molecules by holding onto one of the electrons and when the next molecules come along they get joined to make two oxygen molecules... o2

[@CommodityCulture]

Very interesting.

[@JohnAnderson-wc2fw]

The problem with platinum is that it IS used for many industrial applications. It is very profitable around the globe to keep the price down. Some would say essential

[@betod3113]

I noticed that everyone accumulate silver and gold but not platinum or palladium... How weird

[@DavidBrown-in8hi]

Palladium is valuable days, but it’s lower on the periodic table than Silver. Silver is rather cheap, cost not more than 30.00 an ounce, whereas palladium is over 2,000.00 an ounce

[@wowshorts1566]

I think platinum and palladium is not easy to sell

[@betod3113]

@@wowshorts1566 oh no for shure u will have to look for someone that is into it... I only have one platinum coin got it at the beginning of 2022 1/2oz always wanted one.. maybe one day al trade it for gold or something else worth it.. but yes platinum and palladium and silver look alike in metals and dealers sometimes don't belive its platinum or palladium so u have to give prof where u got it from paper work or something..

[@Straight_Talk]

What does "stacks" mean in this context? Collects? I don't speak American terribly well.

[@wowshorts1566]

@@Straight_Talk time stamp ?

[@quint3ssent1a]

Best thing I've heard about platinum is that near my hometown there used to be a place where in 19 century some dudes found real platinum nuggets. Not knowing what it is and after determining it wasn't gold (i.e. thing that matters) some local hunters started to use small nuggets as shot in their hunting shotguns, because hey, it's denser than lead and hard like steel instead of being soft and deformable :)))

[@jacquestaulard3088]

You made a very useful and interesting video. One correction is that 'placer' is pronounced 'PLAH-sir, not PLACE-er. I think you misspoke also when you said that platinum was in the group with 'siliCONE' when you meant siliCON. Silicone (polydimethylsiloxane) is a type of rubber, often used to enhance women's breasts. In fact, enhanced breasts attract platinum in the form of jewelry and prenuptial agreements.

[@CommodityCulture]

Very well said haha.

[@200fpsASH]

Weld Tex and the gas shield types was all completed! Thanks

[@wohali4099]

excellent video

[@CommodityCulture]

Thank you!

[@dogyerf21]

Never heard of this “eye Ron” you speak of.

[@brianbushue]

great video

[@CommodityCulture]

Thank you!

[@MasterCommandCEO]

I did in fact enjoy this vid

[@CommodityCulture]

Thank you!

[@tymz-r-achangin]

Thank you very much for your time and effort you put into the all of the detail in this video We was also pleasantly surprised how you were willing to incorporate our God of ALL gods into the video Thanks again and may God bless you

[@CommodityCulture]

Thank you but I'm not religious, although I believe in a higher power and creator of the universe. I was referring to God in the history section as it would have been the widely-held belief of the characters in the story.

[@curtishorn1267]

What process is happening at 4:53 when the melt in the background seems to be shaking?

[@CommodityCulture]

I don't know exactly but it appears to be a laboratory process involving heated crucibles. I got it from a stock footage library.

[@tolitsdterrible4785]

Truth is, gold is almost double the price of platinum now a days.

[@jimbosavage]

It's an anomaly in history. Platinum has historically been worth more than gold and only rarely is worth less.

[@Meteorite-CaliforniumIron]

Nice

[@tepidtuna7450]

Lots of very interesting comments from an eye-opening video. Thanks. I wonder how the world will change when we start mining asteroids? There are metallic asteroids with lots of iron, nickel, platinum-group metals, amongst others. The Psyche asteroid is thought to be the metal core of a failed planet and contains so much metal as to make it essentially as cheap as air.

[@CommodityCulture]

Thank you for watching. At the moment, I believe mining asteroids is quite a ways off from being economically feasible but I agree it could eventually happen.

[@mayurireddy8196]

Beautiful Rivers

[@HerumurtiAdam]

For Nobel Prize

[@rockbutcher]

I've panned platinum out of the Rios Santiago and Esmereldas. Right where the Conquistadores found it.

[@CommodityCulture]

Wow really? That's awesome.

[@nw2010xl]

Thanks!

[@CommodityCulture]

Thank you for the donation, much appreciated!

[@JohnDoe-wp7kb]

dope

[@goldcic]

Platinum broke the $2000 barrier when gold came close but failed to do so after the Oct 1998 economic disaster. Palladium was as low as $175 a troy oz. Events in S. Africa caused auto makers to use more palladium in the converters than platinum. This was why the US Pt. z coin was $100 rather than the $50 assigned to gold & Platinum Credit Cards exceeded Gold cards during that era. This info came from my older brothers & father as I wasn't born yet. 😂

[@CommodityCulture]

Very interesting insights, thanks!

[@mikemcgrath5188]

160 tons of platinum are mined per year as opposed to 3000 tons for gold. but currently platinum is priced half as much as gold!

[@AaronSchwarz42]

Space based mining will bring even more Pt, Ir, Au, Pd, and other valuable elements :)

[@CommodityCulture]

Space based mining seems quite a ways off, unless there's some developments I'm not aware of.

[@Francis77492]

Please make a video about the material they use to make space rocket

[@derricksooEOAdvocate]

Platinum is common Durable metal in Rings. My 2nd Wife’s Wedding Ring was Platinum and far more $$$ than Gold and Silver.

[@addj7093]

Platinum > Gold

[@user-ol7tl1vf5m]

Fascinating. Maybe we will be able to produce it in a lab too. 😏 The Philosopher's Stone. In 1980, gold was successfully made by a team of scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California. Nuclear chemists Glenn T. Seaborg, David J. Morrissey and Walter D. Loveland used a high energy nuclear particle accelerator known as the Bevalac which transformed the metal bismuth into gold. The process is known as "Chrysopoeia".

[@user-ol7tl1vf5m]

Then how will you value it?

[@mayurireddy8196]

Platinum Palladium one of the precious metals

[@stephsexoticpets]

neat!

[@basedmushroom]

How come platinum is cheaper than gold even though it's more rare? AMAZING video!

[@CommodityCulture]

Thank you! I think it's because platinum has never been used as money and so is strictly for jewelry and industrial use.

[@basedmushroom]

@@CommodityCulture Interesting, I wonder if silver will rise or fall in this case because I'm pretty sure silver will not become tomorrows money, and it seems like it's becoming more of an industrial metal as time moves forward.

[@CommodityCulture]

@@basedmushroom Silver's move to a purely industrial metal is indeed possible. From the monetary side, the game-changer would be big institutions starting to invest in physical.

[@CommodityCulture]

@@steve0504 I agree, it's just a matter of time. The difficult part is knowing when.

[@TheCharr1981]

​​@@basedmushroom Gold and Silver will always be money since biblical times....Silver has been more valuable than Gold before. The reason why pure silver is way undervalued because of less implosion of manipulators for centuries due to its healing abilities for humanity and abundance of diversity. All of the Precious metals will show their truer value someday. And the people that hold pure silver or not will be shock of its intrinsic value that correlates becoming..."invaluable" Haggai 2:8 The Silver and Gold is mines said the Lord...Pure Silver is actually rare than Gold.

[@ogmakefirefiregood]

Centuries later, Kid Rock promised to go there.

[@rachaelfleming7132]

Interesting

[@garlicbreathandfarts]

Platinum is not so pretty, but it is dense and just feels of value in the hand.

[@PilotVBall]

Without the nonsense of marketing 0:19 platinum is just a metal. Iridium is much more desirable because at least it can protect you. If you only knew.

[@filipposkoliopanos7281]

As a side note, I'd like to make a small correction (irrelevant to the main subject). Almost no one in the 1700s (or even the 1400s when Columbus lived) believed that the Earth was flat (certainly not educated people). Ulloa took part in the French Geodesic Mission of 1735 with the goal of performing an arc measurement, measuring the length of a degree of latitude near the Equator, by which the Earth radius at the equatorial plane could be inferred. The ultimate purpose of the mission was to confirm the suspicion that the Earth is not a perfect sphere but had a greater circumference at the equator. Also, Newton was dead for more than a decade by that time. The myth about most people believing the Earth was flat during these times has been long held but in the last decade it has started to die down. It is gradually becoming common knowledge to more and more school students that even during Columbus' time no one doubted* the fact that the Earth was round**. More facts concerning the French geodesic mission which brought Ulloa to the Americas can be be accessed via a wikipedia search. * The argument between Columbus and his critics was about the size of the Earth. They correctly pointed out that assuming (by everyone,, inlcuding Columbus himself) that only an ocean lies between the westernmost point of Europe and the easternmost point of Asia, its length would be so vast that they would ran out of potable water. Lucky for him an entire unknown continent existed in his path, which saved his and his crews' life. ** In fact since at least since the Hellenistic period in antiquity all educated people knew that the Earth is spherical. Eratosthenes in 200BC(!) actually measured the circumference of the planet with surprising accuracy using a very simple and smart methodology.

[@CommodityCulture]

Thanks for clarifying, the reason I didn't research much about the purpose of the expedition is that it had such a small bearing on the subject at hand, the discovery of platinum as an element.

[@filipposkoliopanos7281]

​@@CommodityCulture You have a point there. I guess what bugged me most was that this small part of the video unwittingly contributes to the long held belief that people thought the Earth was flat up until the time* of Columbus. In fact since at least the Hellenistic period in antiquity all educated people knew that the Earth is spherical. Eratosthenes in 200BC(!) actually measured the circumference of the planet with surprising accuracy using a very simple and smart methodology. That said, the fact that you care to interact with you audience's comments tells me that you are serious about your channel and did not just throw a quick and inaccurate narration over a hastily made video just to scrape views. I have now watched a few more of your videos and their quality is obvious. I will edit my initial comment just to provide the additional info, without the criticism. It's now unjustified as it no longer reflects my opinion on the video or your channel and I wouldn't want to take away from your effort. And especially I do not want to discourage you from making similar historical videos about elements in the future. There is not a lot of info about this subject out there and I am confident your videos will eventually get the views they deserve. I for one have now subscribed to your channel.

[@CommodityCulture]

@@filipposkoliopanos7281 Thank you very much for the kind words and appreciate the subscription! I will try to be more cautious in getting everything right moving forward, though a few things will be bound to slip between the cracks.

[@fiegenfiegen]

If you did not research on the matter and ended up propagating misinformation... how are we to trust that you did research the rest of the video? Please, avoid saying things in videos unless you research them!

[@miguelmachado3259]

It was Fernao de Magalhaes that proved the Earth is round back in 1519-1522 trip.