Gold recovery from rocks where Mercury and Cinnabar naturally occur

[FiresEye]

So, I have some chunks of bedrock from my favorite gold producing river... This place hasbeen and is currently being dredged, panned, and sluiced. However, I see few people collecting ore. There's several reasons.. It's heavy, somewhat hard to get to, and the lack of knowledge.
However, I have overcome these and have a nice bit of heavily mineralized quartz, with mice, garnet, ironites, and even some of the pieces show some some cinnabar.

So let's say that your payload of crushed rocks is contaminated with mercury and you plan to use conventional methods to recover it ( screening, sluicing, then blue bowling) and there is mercury( either natural or runoff).... What happens to the find gold? SUrely it would grab up with the mercury and then just float right off.. right?

How can one stop or even perhaps eliminate mercury contamination from the crushed ore, and is this even a factor.
If heating large batches of ore to evaporate the mercury is the only option.. Forget it

So, is there much to worry about here?

Let's say a ton( or even a little bit) of flour mercury gets in the crushed ore.. won't all the gold float off or be discarded( in blue bowl, whatever, etc) ?


_Fire

 

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[Tuberale]

I can tell from your posting history you are a newbie (at least for TNet), so I'm going to be gentle (hopefully) with you:

Mice are rarely found identifyable in mineralized rock. Perhaps you meant mica?

I'm unfamiliar with the term ironites. Did you mean iron-rich ore, such as ilmenite?

I'm unfamiliar with the term "blue bowling" too. Is that similar to concentrating?

I don't think that mercury would bind with gold and "just float right off". Mercury is quite heavy by itself, and tends to sink toward bedrock in liquid form, filling small cracks and crevices in river (alluvial) beds, where it may remain for millions of years. Over time it will continue to absorb gold (and to a lesser degree platinum group metals) until the remaining amalgam becomes supersaturated.

While cinnabar is sometimes found in limestone beds with some hot water activity (as in central Oregon), droplets of exuded mercury sink quickly to the lowest possible point.

If you are seeing mercury contamination in crushed ore, it can be a problem for gold or other metal contamination, as mercury is quite toxic. The EPA is attempting to close-down a cement plant in Oregon because of the high amounts of atmospheric mercury released.

I have never heard of "flour mercury" and it would seem to me, at least, to be a contradiction of terms.

 

[Eu_citzen]

I'm unfamiliar with the term ironites. Did you mean iron-rich ore, such as ilmenite?

I'm unfamiliar with the term "blue bowling" too. Is that similar to concentrating?

I think Ironites is referring to Limonite; due to it consisting of several different Iron hydroxides?

Blue bowl is often used after sluicing to process the concentrate and retrieve the fine gold. Especially after having screened the material.

And as Tuberale suggests; it will most likely not float off. Amalgam itself is very heavy, to.
How to work with it though, I do not know.

 

[FiresEye]

I'm unfamiliar with the term ironites. Did you mean iron-rich ore, such as ilmenite?

I'm unfamiliar with the term "blue bowling" too. Is that similar to concentrating?

I think Ironites is referring to Limonite; due to it consisting of several different Iron hydroxides?

Blue bowl is often used after sluicing to process the concentrate and retrieve the fine gold. Especially after having screened the material.

And as Tuberale suggests; it will most likely not float off. Amalgam itself is very heavy, to.
How to work with it though, I do not know.

\



Thanks..
Yes, I meant MICA
ANd yes, blue bowl is for fine gold recovery that uses gravity.. type it into google.
By ironites I mean Hematite, black magnetic sands, megnetite, etc.

ANd yes, you guys answered my questions.. THANKS! Now that I know that Amalgam sinks, as well as mercury, I know what to look for.

However, I've seen floating mercury before in tiny little droplets( at least I thought it was... like the surface floured with it.

So yeah.... I will check my sluices and stuff for the pewter looking amalgam it will be "golden".

 

[strickman]

he is referring to floured mercury, sometimes it will flour into millions of tiny tiny droplets . which can be hard to get to go back together, on way is add some charged mercury and it will pull those tiny droplets back together so you can work it . i know some of the dredgers have seen this ,when it hits your crash box . it will flour . that's what i have always heard it called there might be a technical term but that's what most people call it ....

 

[TerryC]

Here's my two cents.... for you people near the Melones (CA) reservoir, you can find mercury in the tailings pile at the old gold mine near the bridge (hwy49). Pick up the pieces of quartz, strike (use safety glasses) the bigger pieces with a rock hammer, breaking it, and you will see small globules of mercury. I have done this. Neat! Only, I don't know if the mercury is naturally occurring or if it is left over from the miners. TTC

 

[Tuberale]

If the mercury is inside the quartz as you imply, then the mercury is native. Really unusual if true. The largest mercury mine I know of in America are the New Almaden mines in Santa Clara County, CA.

New Almaden is a reference to fabulous rich Almaden mine of Spain I believe, noted for its abundant mercury production.

 

[TerryC]

If the mercury is inside the quartz as you imply, then the mercury is native. Really unusual if true. The largest mercury mine I know of in America are the New Almaden mines in Santa Clara County, CA.

New Almaden is a reference to fabulous rich Almaden mine of Spain I believe, noted for its abundant mercury production.

I will check with "Brent", at the gold store (name unkown right now) in Jamestown, CA. I remember him saying he worked that mine as a young man. He will know. I'll keep you posted. Tnx. TTC

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

Good afternoon Gentlemen: Go to "Small mercury mine" in this same hard rock forum.

Also go to -->http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,347300.0.htm


wonder if we could get Terry to baby sit the retort? He can sleep with that enormous piggy. hehehe

Yes Mercury will most definitely flour - break up into small droplets - but I doubt that a sufficient amount will float off to effect an operation, in any even this is easily handled.

Don Jose de La Mancha

 

[jimmygoat]

I'm unfamiliar with the term ironites. Did you mean iron-rich ore, such as ilmenite?

I'm unfamiliar with the term "blue bowling" too. Is that similar to concentrating?

I think Ironites is referring to Limonite; due to it consisting of several different Iron hydroxides?

Blue bowl is often used after sluicing to process the concentrate and retrieve the fine gold. Especially after having screened the material.

And as Tuberale suggests; it will most likely not float off. Amalgam itself is very heavy, to.
How to work with it though, I do not know.

\



Thanks..
Yes, I meant MICA
ANd yes, blue bowl is for fine gold recovery that uses gravity.. type it into google.
By ironites I mean Hematite, black magnetic sands, megnetite, etc.

ANd yes, you guys answered my questions.. THANKS! Now that I know that Amalgam sinks, as well as mercury, I know what to look for.

However, I've seen floating mercury before in tiny little droplets( at least I thought it was... like the surface floured with it.

So yeah.... I will check my sluices and stuff for the pewter looking amalgam it will be "golden".

Hello Fireseye. Were you using a metal pan? If so the tiny mercury droplets could be Rubidium. It pecipitates on iron and looks like merc, but it dosesn't want to stick together like mercury. Rubidium will turn gold black. Ever have a black coating in the inside of your mercury bottle, rubidium. If you let the mercury dry out and you have a black powder afterwards you have rubidium. Good luck, Jimmygoat

 

[strickman]

where he was at , sometimes you hit floured mercury . i hit a spot there and got quite a good bit . i am familiar with this area , - especially when you start to hit a good crack ! usually in the slick layer ....... last time i hit the floured mercury there - i pulled it together ,put it in a retort and got a vert nice sized gold sponge !!! some is very loaded ,sometimes just pinheads ,specks and flypoop . he is in good material.... that spot has good potential for placer ,and lode !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i know LONG LIVE THE LAND PIRATES !!!!!!!!!

 

[FiresEye]

the main "stream"
...

 

[FiresEye]

THE gold floats too, especially if you get fresh hands into the pan pickin and stuff, lots of oils come off.
I also sort of sand my hands a bit with the river gravel when I first start panning to remove that slick layer.

 

[FiresEye]

rocks with niches in them down in certain spots over winter and re-checking the small placed holes for gold the next season... Seems like it would work with good placement strategy.

 

[kuger]

If the mercury is inside the quartz as you imply, then the mercury is native. Really unusual if true. The largest mercury mine I know of in America are the New Almaden mines in Santa Clara County, CA.

New Almaden is a reference to fabulous rich Almaden mine of Spain I believe, noted for its abundant mercury production.

I will check with "Brent", at the gold store (name unkown right now) in Jamestown, CA. I remember him saying he worked that mine as a young man. He will know. I'll keep you posted. Tnx. TTC

Terry,I have very good friend that has a hardrock mine with in 5 miles of where you are talking and he has hit merc pockets DEEP in hard rock....so it is naturally occuring to a degree.
I have broke my share of rocks and cant say I have witnessed what you refer to,but I can tell you Brent never worked the Norweigan!!!He has a tendency to "stretch",the truth