Editing Group 10 element (section)

==== Platinum ====
Prior to its formal discovery, platinum was used in jewelry by native Ecuadorians of the province of Esmeraldas.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Chaston |first=J. C. |date=1980 |title=The Powder Metallurgy of Platinum |url=https://technology.matthey.com/article/24/2/70-79/ |journal=Platinum Metals Review |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=70–79 |doi=10.1595/003214080X2427079 |via=Johnson Matthey Technology Review|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The metal was found in small grains mixed with gold in river deposits, which the workers sintered with gold to form small trinkets such as rings. The first published report of platinum was written by [[Antonio de Ulloa]], a Spanish mathematician, astronomer, and naval officer who observed "platina" (little silver) in the gold mines of Ecuador during a French expedition in 1736.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hunt |first=L. B. |date=1980 |title=Swedish Contributions to the Discovery of Platinum |url=https://technology.matthey.com/article/24/1/31-39/ |journal=Platinum Metals Review |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=31–39 |doi=10.1595/003214080X2413139 |via=Johnson Matthey Technology Review|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Miners found the "platina" difficult to separate from gold, leading to the abandonment of those mines. [[Charles Wood (ironmaster)]] brought samples of the metal to England in 1741 and investigated its properties, observing its high melting point and its presence as small white grains in black metallic sand. Interest in the metal grew after Wood's findings were reported to the Royal Society. [[Henrik Teofilus Scheffer]], a Swedish scientist, referred to the precious metal as "white gold" and the "seventh metal" in 1751, reporting its high durability, high density, and that it melted easily when mixed with copper or arsenic. Both [[Pierre-François Chabaneau]] (during the 1780s) and William Hyde Wollaston (during the 1800s) developed a powder metallurgy technique to produce malleable platinum, but kept their process a secret.<ref name=":1" /> However, their platinum ingots were brittle and tended to crack easily, likely due to impurities. In the 1800s, furnaces capable of sustaining high temperatures were invented, which eventually replaced powder metallurgy and introduced melted platinum to the market.