anyone ever get Red or copper colored Amalgam?

[Dustedyou]

I ask because I just did my first amalgam ball and while panning out the end of the small run,, I ended up with a blood red to copper colored amalgam ball, This is odd because I have already Etched the slip, and had no copper in the large amalgam ball.. nothing.. well except a very pretty gold and silver ball.. so... anyone ever seen this?
is it possible i had Antimony in the mix?
Is it possible there was copper and this is now the color?
Is it possible its Indium?

Lost my damn mind on this,, and there really isnt enough to run thru the retort.

OK and now its Dark Crystal Purple... Changed its color over the last hour.

OO and one further question has anyone here ever used Charged Murcury? Is it worth the cost?

 

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[Sheldon J]

I'm no expert by a long shot but red is usually caused by, iron, (well Mercury ore is reddish), but your amalgam.. purple humm....

 

[loco oro]

perhaps you have native cinnabar, which would bind with elemental merc,and native americans have used it when found to make red dyes/pigments. just a guess.

 

[gold tramp]

I ask because I just did my first amalgam ball and while panning out the end of the small run,, I ended up with a blood red to copper colored amalgam ball, This is odd because I have already Etched the slip, and had no copper in the large amalgam ball.. nothing.. well except a very pretty gold and silver ball.. so... anyone ever seen this?
is it possible i had Antimony in the mix?
Is it possible there was copper and this is now the color?
Is it possible its Indium?

Lost my damn mind on this,, and there really isnt enough to run thru the retort.

OK and now its Dark Crystal Purple... Changed its color over the last hour.

OO and one further question has anyone here ever used Charged Murcury? Is it worth the cost?[/. Gone mining

 

[Dustedyou]

OK so here are some picts!

second thing to note its "Sweating" the bottle is new, the Cons were heat dried prior to adding the Merc, and these came out after (WAY AFTER) 98% of all the mercury was removed.
So DRY DRY DRY leaves a "Wet spot on the paper? This is weird.. no clue here .. anyone?

and the picts just don't quite cut the "Purple" Haze but its definitely purple now.

 

[Geochemdog]

Well I know that when gold ions become extremely disseminated into certain solutions it results in a lavender to royal purple color. When gold is present as single atoms in colloidal solutions it almost always has this color. So my two cents as geochem student is that this is happening in the amalgam. Makes sense too if you are processing ore with micron (or smaller) gold present. Could also be contamination of unknown metals leading to some minor reaction occurring, I say this based on the "sweating" you mentioned, which is VERY odd. I would be EXTREMLY careful with that condensation/precipitate that is forming, good possibility that it is an organic mercurial compound that has formed, which would be amazingly toxic. FYI many organic mercurial compounds can be absorbed rapidly through the skin.

 

[dave wiseman]

Once melted some amalgam in a cast iron lead ladle and the gold button had a red tinge to it..notice I said once.

 

[prospect007]

try dissolving the amalgam in nitric acid,(outside, well ventilated). the nitric will eat the mercury, silver, copper and will leave the gold and any pgm's. decant the acid off, neutralize the acid and the gold (which are now in separate plastic containers) with baking soda, melt gold into button. I use this process, it's safer than retorting. (don't breathe the fumes). prospect007

 

[Oakview2]

This video shows how to charge mercury, I am wondering if this is what you are referring to

 

[huntsman53]

Just a thought but Silver turns to blues to lavenders to purples and many colors in between when exposed.


Frank

 

[aussco999]

Hey Dustedyou:

It's always fun jumping in on something new and hitting the brick wall. I've done it to many times to count. Not to worry, you aren't losing your mind on this one. I won't get into any of the safety hazards of handling mercury (unless you ask), as I'll rely on your common sense to keep you safe.

Mercury will amalgamate with most all metals and semi-metals (to varying degrees), with the exception of iron and some of the PGMs. Iron will actually take the charge off of mercury. Some people think gold is soluble in mercury which is not true. It actually “wets” the surface and forms a tight compound which hardens over time. One ounce of mercury will easily amalgamate with over 7 oz. of gold.

Because mercury coats the other metal, it doesn't take on the true color of that metal. Mercury coated copper plates are silvery in color. Mercury coated gold looks more like dull electrum than yellow. Antimony is already gray colored and Indium would probably be blue, not red. The main mineral of mercury is cinnabar (HgS) which is normally red in color, but once the sulfur is roasted off it will not reunite with the mercury.

During the amalgamation process, mercury can be sickened by many things (grease, oil, sulfides, iron and some other base metals), that causes a thin surface color change. Think of all the colors in Peacock (copper) pyrite. This very thin surface coating on the mercury can oxides rapidly and darken when exposed to air or bright light. Processing mercury in a tort or with nitric acid fixes that problem.

The wet water sweating you see on the paper is probably normal as mercury is usually stored under (distilled) water. When you poured it in the pan, it took some of the water with it. In the future, do the amalgamation process wet, instead of on dry cons. The water will float the grease, oils and most of the sulfides away from the heavies, leaving less contaminates on the bottom. Also, on hot days, water will slow down any mercury evaporation problems. Just a safety plug.

I think you might be confusing the higher cost of triple distilled mercury when compared to charged mercury. It's not worth buying 3X distilled mercury as on the first use, it's a moot point. There are several ways to charge mercury, like the battery method video shown and with a nitric acid or lye (sodium hydroxide) wash. In the old days, they use to combine pure sodium with mercury to solidify it, but now we're talking about some real dangerous stuff and I'll withhold that info.

IMHO, the finally color of the mercury isn't that important. It just shows that you have some sort of contamination in the recovery process that you must deal with. No biggie. Clean and charged mercury will do a better job of amalgamating.

Good luck and keep us informed of your progress.

John

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

G'd afternoon, coffee ? The filter is clean only used twice to clean up HG

To put it more correctly, it is the Comb of Hg that offers the danger.

Example, during the Guadalcanal campaign in 42,, as a master horizontal Bombardier, I (we) overhauled the then secret Nordon Bomb sight inside of closed Quonset Huts with no ventilation or windows - a small generator supplied lights and 24 volt DC power. The temp in the tropical climes was a bit fierce, 130 + . We washed the parts in open buckets of Carbon Tetrachloride and used open bowls of HG as gravity leveled mirrors to establish a true vertical for the sight. In between times we tracked down flies with hypodermic needles full of Liquid Hg,-- a good squirt would bring down the most fiercest ones. Anyway the conditions inside of that hut would send a present day environmentalist into convulsions. saturated vapors of the the Tet and Hg.continuous bare skin contact, yet, somehow, none of us ever had mental or other health problems linked to Hg or Carbon Tet -- course i am only 90, something may pop up later.

Don Jose de La Mancha

p.s. Of course I am not advocating carelessness with Hg, OR the Tet, just keep a respectful attitudem, but realize that 'metallic' Hg dangers are vastly over rated.

p.p.s Most consider the Carbon Tetrachloride as being much more dangerous than HG.

P.P.P.S. All of our energy saving light bulbs contain liquid free HG ? Would ths be allowed if ?

 

[AZAu]

Hi all, this is my first post here. Been reading for a long time, still in the never ending learning cycle for hard rock mining. Have been working a small mine with my brother for couple years now, just for fun and hobby. This post caught my eye, as I've experienced the exact same problem Dustedyou has. I am by NO means, any type of expert on this, but did find a solution to my problem. We've run into many problems due to working with a sulfide ore. The ore itself is a metamorphic quartz with gneiss, which contains gold, silver, and copper. Our liberation size at -400 mesh seems to give the most recovery, as we're dealing with very fine gold. We've also had problems with mercury flouring. Observing all safety precautions, I've roasted the ore after milling, at about 1100*F for about an hour, to burn off the sulfides. Done outside, upwind, nobody around, and do not breath fumes. Seemed to work quite well. After roasting, have not had any problems with color changes or flouring during wet amalgamation. I then retort and fire. On another note, I always charge our mercury until it turns into a putty, using sodium hydroxide, which is caustic soda or lye. Then it's put into a small mason jar, which I've glued a silica packet bottom side of lid, to keep moisture out and tightly sealed. Seems to do much better and more aggressive while amalgamating, again observing all safety precautions involved. I still haven't made enough money to cover my gas to get to the mine, much less any profit. Finally found a hobby that not only challenges me, but is truly addicting. We've been bitten by the gold bug, and the fever never stops! I hope this helped out a little.
Steve

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

Luv yer post AZ continue to have fun. Perhaps the price of AU may rise enough to start making jewelry money for the gals in your family.

Don Jose de La Mancha

 

[Goodyguy]

G'd afternoon, coffee ? The filter is clean only used twice to clean up HG

To put it more correctly, it is the Comb of Hg that offers the danger.

Example, during the Guadalcanal campaign in 42,, as a master horizontal Bombardier, I (we) overhauled the then secret Nordon Bomb sight inside of closed Quonset Huts with no ventilation or windows - a small generator supplied lights and 24 volt DC power. The temp in the tropical climes was a bit fierce, 130 + . We washed the parts in open buckets of Carbon Tetrachloride and used open bowls of HG as gravity leveled mirrors to establish a true vertical for the sight. In between times we tracked down flies with hypodermic needles full of Liquid Hg,-- a good squirt would bring down the most fiercest ones. Anyway the conditions inside of that hut would send a present day environmentalist into convulsions. saturated vapors of the the Tet and Hg.continuous bare skin contact, yet, somehow, none of us ever had mental or other health problems linked to Hg or Carbon Tet -- course i am only 90, something may pop up later.

Don Jose de La Mancha

p.s. Of course I am not advocating carelessness with Hg, OR the Tet, just keep a respectful attitudem, but realize that 'metallic' Hg dangers are vastly over rated.

p.p.s Most consider the Carbon Tetrachloride as being much more dangerous than HG.

P.P.P.S. All of our energy saving light bulbs contain liquid free HG ? Would ths be allowed if ?

Perhaps you were eating lots of seafood or other foods high in selenium. Recent studies have shown that selenium will absorb and isolate HG and allow it to pass through your body with no adverse effects.

http://www.naturalnews.com/026729_selenium_mercury_fish.html


GG~

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

G'Guy. Coffee?? Nah was on spam, C rations and a bit of captured Japanese Rice with weevils.., no sea food but you do have a good point for today. Also Vit "C" is an excellent chelating aget for HG - actually all heavy metals. Iused that while assaying.

Don Jose de La Mancha

 

[augoldminer]

The wet water sweating you see on the paper is probably normal as mercury is usually stored under (distilled) water.

Most of us that have worked with mercury for years store ours under a caustic soda solution.
this prevents oxidation.

It also makes it easy to charge the mercury by sticking in two carbon rods spaced apart with a couple amps from a car battery charger.

 

[gold tramp]

Throw in my two cents here.

Nitric acid will digest your HG leaving just gold, and is an excellent way to clean your product before smelting, I like using this method best.

Try to keep your Hg in dry store with a lid not water. the water and other chemicals will tend to break down the HG into some bad stuff, the water will become more toxic than than the elemental HG.

HG is not just going to evaporate like water, it takes a very long time to do this, even floured HG doesn't just evaporate rapidly, water and organics would most likely break it down faster than air.



AZAu, what type amalgamator are you using ? If you don't mind me asking.

Heres some things I found will flour your product.

Maybe you are running to fast and its flouring your HG, I try to keep things going as slow as possible, using only enough water to sluff off the very light materials, you have to be very carefull with the merc.
Watch your water input, if its to heavy it may be causing your flouring problem.
Even adding your Hg to your device you can flour your HG.

Its just the nature of the BEAST.
GT.......

 

[AZAu]

Hello again,
Just got back from the mine.
@Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp: Funny you've mentioned jewelry as no matter how pretty the ore looks, my brother's wife won't be impressed unless she can wear a 1 ounce pendant around her neck...lol. She honestly doesn't realize the amount of work we do at the mine. I'm pretty sure she thinks my brother and I go to the mine, set up a couple of lounge chairs, and drink margaritas all day, just to get away from them and the kids.....well she's partly correct..

@Gold Tramp: Up until recently, just using pans and distilled water. Since we've found out we're dealing with a heavy sulfide ore, we have been roasting it, then cracking in cold water. Have not had any flouring since then. Recently, we've set up a cement mixer without the paddles, as a ball mill. Ore is milled down to powder, then roasted, put back in with just enough water to cover, and Hg added. Have completed our first run in this manner, and seems to work very well with no flouring. After nitric, how are you recovering your Hg? Are you using copper? Maybe another thread about tips and tricks of Hg? Think there could be a wealth of info, through trial, error, and experience, would very helpful. Especially for people like me, who cannot yet afford a shaker table to recover very fine and micron gold. So far it's a hobby, but wouldn't complain if some extra money came rolling in!

 

[prospect007]

azau slightly neutralize the nitric after dissolving the hg, use a copper polished rod in the solution, wait about 6-10 hrs, the hg will be pooled at the bottom of the half eaten rod. the more the hg you use the bigger the rod should be. you now have very clean hg. this is the method I use. you recover 95-98 %, you loose the hg stuck on the rod which is minimal.