The Spanish Monopoly of Platina

The success of Pierre François Chabaneau and Fausto de Elhuyar in the refining of platina may be seen as marking the end of the first phase of the Spanish attempt to establish a monopoly of this new metal. It then became necessary to organise the collection and shipment of platina from New Granada to Spain. Initially this was not as successful as the Viceroy would have liked, and an attempt by Juan José de Elhuyar to refine platina in New Granada prior to its shipment to Europe was also fruitless.