El Dorado County, Need help with 1.5 lbs of found buried mercury.

[Ed144]

I found about 1.5 pounds of mercury buried in a glass fruit jar. Is there anyone near El Dorado County that can help evaluate the mercury? I suspect it is just liquid but perhaps it has some amalgam. Should this be run through a retort? Does anyone have the experience to discern if the material should be run through a retort? Please PM me if you are interested in helping. Thanks.

 

[JosephT]

Warning viewers are advised to lock all firearms up prior to watching this video.

Come on now its not that bad he has many videos covering everything from panning to hard rock mining and everything in around and in between

 

[winners58]

Warning viewers are advised to lock all firearms up prior to watching this video.

and no drinking, if you mix mercury, nitric and alcohol you get the ingredients to make cherry bombs.

the web page Basement Chemistry for the Prospector
was a good resource looks like it's no more, this is the web archive of that page.
look under "All about Mercury" it's a good resource...
https://web.archive.org/web/20160710004605/http://webpages.charter.net/kwilliams00/bcftp/bcftp.htm

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Come on now its not that bad he has many videos covering everything from panning to hard rock mining and everything in around and in between

No doubt there is great info, it’s the way it’s delivered that rubs me the wrong way.
I wish one time he’d try and tone it down a bit and see how that works.

 

[Goldwasher]

Warning viewers are advised to lock all firearms up prior to watching this video.

yea, I don't waste ammo. So I will not watch Jeff Williams.

 

[Goldwasher]

got tired of seeing a cool subject..clicking on it and having to stop about twenty seconds in..

he is a smart guy. i just wish he made videos for grown ups too.

 

[JosephT]

No doubt there is great info, it’s the way it’s delivered that rubs me the wrong way.
I wish one time he’d try and tone it down a bit and see how that works.

I can see what you are saying but I see it as his way to attract newbies to the hobby as opposed to a boring video.

 

[Asmbandits]

Jeff tried to be normal at first, if you look at his videos as a whole then by age you can see what I mean. He adapted to reach more audience, I don't think people realize how non existent and full of angry old old guys the gold prospecting world is. If you look at all the people providing content that is mining related on youtube you will see that Jeff blows everyone away. It takes years to build the fan base he has and he is living very comfortable now. I follow him and his wife on Instagram also and all they do is travel the world and enjoy thanks to his hard work. Check out the end of the video when he announces all his patrons, if every partreon listed gave just 1 dollar, thats thousands a month just from that. And then the youtube income, the private diggs.. He's basically retried and digs gold and has fun with his wife all day, I sure would like to be in that situation!

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Either way, the skit is annoying. Call me grumpy

 

[Mitch Dickson]

Strain it through a chamois. DO NOT HEAT IT!!!! Liquid mercury is quite safe. One whiff of mercury vapor will kill you graveyard dead!!! That's a good find. Enough to gold mine the rest of your life if you are careful and us a retort or acid to work the amalgum. Two Toes and Jeff Williams both have videos on amalgamation. Store it safely. A 1 inch black pipe and 2 caps is best. It will not stick to steel or iron and if you drop the pipe, it won't break!!! It is always shipped in steel containers.