What is 28 pounds of 99.99% pure liquid mercury worth?

[lastleg]

You might offer it on one of the gold forums.

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[SilverForBrains]

First of all, I love this post. This is what sets us apart from the rest of the population. Most people would say "oh my this is dangerous, how do we dispose of it??" We say, "man this is a lot of mercury, what's it worth!!!?"

That looks to me to be elemental mercury, not nearly as harmful as methyl mercury, which is the biologically available mercury we find in fish across the globe. Still, be careful! I'm pretty sure it's still very toxic.

[Geriatric_Silverback]

Prospectors used it many years ago to form an amalgam with gold. They would then take the amalgam and heat it to vaporize the mercury off of the gold. The resulting vapor is VERY TOXIC and should be avoided. The proper way to process the amalgam will require a well ventilated area (to avoid your inhalation of the vapor) and a condenser system (much like a still) to vacuum & cool the vapor. The condenser can be a coil of some sort. A vent fan is used to create a vacuum whereby you can vacuum up the vapor for condensation. By vacuuming the vapor through a condenser, the vapor is allowed to cool and condense back into liquid mercury for reuse. If you do not capture all of the vapor (please try to do so), be sure that the fumes are not able to drift to where anybody is able to inhale it. Should you try to do this process, look on-line for technical plans for the condenser system plans. Short of following some safety procedures to verify the safety of the environment, I would say don't even try it.

I personally have never tried to use mercury for the amalgam process, but you can find the information on-line.

[TreasureWriter]

I've come across mercury plenty of times ... playing with it as a kid, mercury vapor lighting at old industrial sites, fillings in my teeth etc. and I'm still here to talk about it. It's an interesting metal but I've never had much use for it other than in my amalgam fillings that I needed from biting too many gold coins testing them to make sure they are real! . I'd definitely be discrete about the sale or sell it to a company that handles mercury. Someone mentioned an MSDS sheet to go along with it. That's probably a good idea...as well as a disclaimer that your not responsible for anything...better yet find out the gov't regs on its sale and control and stay within those guidelines. It's better to be safe than sorry.

[Bigcypresshunter]

The dangers of mercury to our health - Nevada, USA


be careful!

$100,000 to clean it up? We used to play with mercury in the classroom as kids and I dont remember anyone making a big deal about it. It looked cool the way it bubbled up. We used to rub it on quarters to make them really shine. I guess we played with the stuff until it became smaller and smaller until we could no longer pick it up. You drop it and it scatters into many tiny bubbles but you can collect some of it and put it back together. The things we didnt know...

[GibH]

$100,000 to clean it up? We used to play with mercury in the classroom as kids and I dont remember anyone making a big deal about it. It looked cool the way it bubbled up. We used to rub it on quarters to make them really shine. I guess we played with the stuff until it became smaller and smaller until we could no longer pick it up. You drop it and it scatters into many tiny bubbles but you can collect some of it and put it back together. The things we didnt know...

A woman in Maine was told it would cost over $2000 to clean up a broken CFL. After the story hit the news she found out all she had to do was use tape to pick everything up and seal it in a zip lock bag.

[Bigcypresshunter]

A woman in Maine was told it would cost over $2000 to clean up a broken CFL. After the story hit the news she found out all she had to do was use tape to pick everything up and seal it in a zip lock bag.

OMG I cant believe how many I broke. Just swept it up.

[GibH]

OMG I cant believe how many I broke. Just swept it up.

She made the mistake of asking a city bureaucrat. He recommended a hazmat company and they quoted her $2400. She had the bedroom sealed shut for like 2 months before she found out she only needed to use tape and a zip lock bag.

[greydigger]

As the original post was 3 yrs. ago am sure it has gone away somewhere.
I like the later posts.
Reminds me of when I worked at a large company.
There was Asbestos (sp) in the ceiling of one building so they called in "Official" removers.
There was an airlock system where guys in space suits went though and removed the ceiling.
Then it went into dumpsters pulled behind trucks where all the dust flew away as they went down the road.
Grey

[ABruce]

When I was in grammar school, a girl brought in a glass mayonnaise jar filled with mercury, probably about 20 pounds worth. Her father donated it to the school for the science class. Wouldn't you know it, some idiot kid dropped the jar while trying to put it on a shelf. There was mercury all over the place, little puddles of mercury rolling all over the floor gave everyone a big laugh. The teacher had us all use pieces of thin cardboard to scoop up the mercury off the floor and put it into another container, meanwhile we were having a ball playing with the stuff! Eventually we got about 90% of the mercury picked up, but for months we would spot little blobs of it in the class room or in the hall outside of the science room. There was no HAZMAT, no evacuation, etc. Now while this happened almost 50 years ago, I know that room is still in use and I don't believe that it was ever decontaminated. If that happened today you can bet that that whole school would be shut down for months! Times have certainly changed.
About 10 years ago, a friend of mine bought about 25 1 lb. sealed bottles of triple distilled dental mercury at an estate sale for something like 20 bucks for the lot. He hit the jackpot selling the bottles individually on ebay, the bottles selling for anywhere from #100. to $185. EACH! He sold about 6 bottles before ebay would not allow it to be sold anymore. After that, he tried to sell the mercury to anyone who might buy it, but found no takers. He then tried to sell it to a scrap dealer, again no takers. He even tried to bring it to a hazardous waste dump. Even They wouldn't take it. I think he eventually gave it away for free, but I don't know what they did with it.

[Monty]

I remember several of us kids playing with thermometer mercury too. But I soon forgot it . Heck, I forgot everthing. Where am I? Matee....er, uh mm matie, I mean.... I rode my detecter over here but now it won't start! r

[Bigcypresshunter]

As the original post was 3 yrs. ago am sure it has gone away somewhere.
I like the later posts.
Reminds me of when I worked at a large company.
There was Asbestos (sp) in the ceiling of one building so they called in "Official" removers.
There was an airlock system where guys in space suits went though and removed the ceiling.
Then it went into dumpsters pulled behind trucks where all the dust flew away as they went down the road.
Grey

ouch

[snakeyes]

Kool posts I'm sure everybody remembers rubbing it on pennies and turning them silver, as a kid I remember having a quart jar full, but I don't remember what ever happened to it.

[Bigcypresshunter]

Kool posts I'm sure everybody remembers rubbing it on pennies and turning them silver, as a kid I remember having a quart jar full, but I don't remember what ever happened to it.

The Spanish conquistadors called it Quicksilver.

[garydeona]

Hi AnIrish Bear, how are you doing? I am wondering if you still have the liquid mercury. I will be interested in buying some from you. Please let me know where you are located. I am Canada. Thank you

[garydeona]

I would like to buy some of this stuff

[garydeona]

I would like to buy some of this stuff

Please get back to me at garydeona@yahoo.ca. i am interested in buying some or all of this stuff

[woodstock]

This has possibly been said in the thread but I don't think just handling it will harm you or the environment as long as you keep it in a vessel . And there are other forms of Mercury and all have a possibility of damaging the environment as well as you .
Gold Miners used it for gathering gold dust . The Gold sticks to the Mercury and has to be heated over a fire . This will evaporate the Mercury leaving just the gold but not in dust but a solid piece . The dangerous part of this process was the Mercury fumes that could kill you or cause brain damage . In the 1800's Mercury was also used in making those "top hats" like President Lincoln wore . The fumes were so bad that hat makers became brain damaged and hence the term " Mad Hatter " appeared ! Woodstock

[woodstock]

Well I really don't think he'll be able to ship it to you if you did by it cause Mercury is considered a hazardous material and requires speical permits and a speical license to transport ... and the fines and possible jail time if your caught without the stuff needed to handle and ship it would outweigh the cost of the mercury ... IMHO , Woodstock

Please get back to me at garydeona@yahoo.ca. i am interested in buying some or all of this stuff

[woodstock]

And now that I see you live in Canada I'm willing to bet that there is "no way" they will allow Mercury to be shipped to you from the states and if you could the weight for shipping costs would again pass the cost of the Mercury by tons of money . Your best bet is find a distributor right where you live to obtain what you need . IMHO , Woodstock

Hi AnIrish Bear, how are you doing? I am wondering if you still have the liquid mercury. I will be interested in buying some from you. Please let me know where you are located. I am Canada. Thank you