Buried Jar of Liquid Mercury

[Ed144]

I found a jar of liquid mercury buried about 6" deep in an upright position. The lid top was rusted away to nothing so the jar was filled with dirt. The detector sounded a large target that was both ferrous and non-ferrous, so I dug it. Some of the mercury spilled into the zip-lock bag I put it in. The photos shows the jar and the mercury I cleaned up. Also found a bunch of other stuff: A.J. Tower Co. Boston button back, REM UMC 32-40, REM UMC 32-20, W.R.A. Co 32 W.C.F. cartridges, Leader No 12 1901 and Black Club No 12 U.M.G. Co shot gun cartridges. The rifle cartridges where in several groups. There seemed to be so many cartridges I suspect a shoot-out or something. Also two melted metal lumps that appear to be lead. Does anyone have a suggestion how I might clean the mercury from the dirt in the jar? I have it sealed in two zip lock bags at this time. What does one do with old liquid mercury other that take it to a hazardous waste disposal?

 

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[tamrock]

Indeed very possible a stashed amalgam. You can make a cheap retort. I made one out of black iron pipe fittings long ago. Amalgama: Using Mercury to capture fine gold, retort, charged mercury Be sure to put clay on the threads so they don't fuze together and never do this indoors. There was a lost treasure story I read once. It was about two flasks of amalgam buried. Two partners had washed much placer concentrations over a period of time. One went for more supplies to the nearest town, which was a couple day trip there and back. The pard stayed working, but became very ill and decided he best head to the doctor. On his way to the doctor he ran into his partner returning and said he's gotta see the doc, but don't worry about the gold amalgam, as he stashed in a place where water or fire wouldn't harm it. I guess he didn't tell his pard where exactly he did hide it. Well, when the sick miner got to the doc and he was said to have died from a ruptured spleen and the secret of where he buried the treasure remains a mystery.

 

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[Hillbilly Prince]

I used to play with mercury from a themometer whivh broke. Fascinating stuff.

 

[Plumbata]

Looks like stashed amalgam to me as well, I'd hold onto it until you can get it distilled.

 

[BillA]

I used to play with mercury from a themometer whivh broke. Fascinating stuff.

Yea, perceptions change with time; I too played with mercury often, coating dimes (very slick to the touch), etc. My brother and I had so much everywhere we got hell for it leaking out of the vacuum cleaner bag, an exaggeration I suspect.
Bill

 

[sandchip]

I used to play with mercury from a themometer which broke. Fascinating stuff.

Yeah, we had teachers who would pour a little in one student's hand so that it could be passed around the room. I also had a hardass chemistry teacher, former Marine captain who taught out of his head, never used a book. We got along pretty good. My grades didn't hurt. I ended up picking him as my STAR teacher, but anyway, he would let me straighten up the chemical storage room and junk. He let me buy a pound of mercury and even an ounce of potassium metal, which is a hoot to cut a little chunk and throw it in some water. I know I'm rambling here, but fairly early in the school year, a five gallon can of formaldehyde rusted out one night. Although the floor in the small storage room was bare concrete, the classroom itself was carpeted and wicked up every drop of the stuff. I think they tried to clean it up best they could, but the fumes were rough, leaving everybody's eyes watering every day for months. If anybody complained, his response was, "Get tough." Fond memories of some great times with heavy metals and carcinogens!

 

[jewelerguy]

When I was cleaning out my Dad's garage after he passed away, I found a glass container full of mercury. I went to our local fire/police department to inquire where to take it to get rid of it because I had no use for it. The police chief got back with me a couple of days later and said that all he could come up with was some government agency would take it off my hands for a fee of nearly 1400 bucks (yeah, 'F' a bunch of that), or one of the local plumbers could use it to make a mercury gauge. I gave it to the chief to give to the plumber (if that's where it actually went). I was just glad to get rid of it at no expense.

 

[ConceptualizedNetherlandr]

Looking at that jar I wonder what makes us think it is full of Hg? Looks to be full of ground. If Hg is present it would be as a contaminant. What am I missing here?

 

[ConceptualizedNetherlandr]

And, if there were Hg in there we have no clue what form or forms are present and the waste water from a cleanup could be some really nasty stuff, where would you release that too?

 

[Ed144]

1 pound, 8 ounces of mercury recovered.

Thanks everyone for all the comments and suggestions. I washed most of the dirt out of the jar and into a water filled bucket. The mercury recovered weighs about 24 ounces (1-1/2lb) on my digital postage scale. There are photos attached showing the mercury in a small glass jar with water covering the top. I'm going to try to pan all the dirt washed out of the mercury to see if anything looks like gold. I don't have any sort of a retort but I may be able to find a local that has experience recovering gold from mercury.

 

[against the wind]

Welcome to the forum from Port Allegheny, Pennsylvania

 

[cyzak]

That looks pretty good now, if you find it does not contain gold should be able to sell it to a prospector for a nice price.

 

[Truth]

I heard it makes a hell of a cocktail

 

[Kona Koma]

Very interesting find. Handle with extreme caution. Read up on proper handling.

 

[dsrtdwg1]

Post this in the prospecting section. I'm sure there is someone within 10 miles of you that will cook and recover that stuff for you. Hope its pregnant!

 

[Joe-Dirt]

Damn, you never know what’s gonna come out of the ground, be careful brother

 

[Possum]

Now that's a first... "D"

 

[tamrock]

Huh, that mercury does look possbly a little impure, so who knows what all's within it. One of my customers found a complete iron flask of 76 pound of mercury at an old millsite in the San Juan mountains. He said lift that iron cylinder if you will. The thing didn't look at all as heavy as it was, but it was heavy and you could hear the mercury sloshing around in it. I guess that's how they were packaged so you wouldn't have a mishap if you drop that flask.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Interesting find!

 

[Ed144]

I cleaned up the jar. It looks like a small fruit/canning jar with the following on the bottom: 118, LM(like a brand), 7. On-line research shows this jar is manufactured by Latchford-Marble Glass Co. HUNTINGTON Beach, Ca in the 1939-1957 period. So it looks like the jar is a stash of mercury left at the site because someone didn't want to carry out 1.5 lbs from the remote location. Not as old as I expected. Thanks for all the comments.

 

[A2coins]

gold would be nice