Sure GC...
Let me say one thing first.... Do you know what the letters of the word LUCK actually mean
After reading this posting, you may have some "good luck".....and not having "LUCK" in your life may not be fun.. but disastrous...
L...Living
U..Under
C...Correct
K...Knowledge
It's been years, .....many, MANY... years since I have handled Mercury....with newer and newer technology, has come new ways to separate really fine gold from black sands....
But when I did use mercury..I nearly always used a retort.....
A retort consist of an Iron sealed container... an Aluminum tube/pipe... going from the iron pot through a sealed water jacket with slowly moving, cool FLOWING water...the remainder of the Aluminum tube comes out the other end of the sealed water chamber into a bowl used as a catch basin for the liquid mercury...
NEVER...NEVER..NEVER ... I SAY AGAIN...NEVER....ALLOW THE ALUMINUM TUBE END GOING TO THE CATCH BASIN FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE COOL WATER JACKET TO BE PLACED OR ALLOWED TO BE UNDER WATER...UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES...
Why you ask...
It only takes a small reduction in the heat source to the iron pot to create a SUCTION... and have the water in the catch basin be drawn up into the iron pot.... once the cooler water reaches the boiling pot of mercury...the cool water will cause an explosion of the mercury and could be fatal...certainly harmful...
A retort is closed circuit way to heat the mercury into a vapor (which is extremely dangerous state for humans concerning mercury)...but within the closed circuit ...the vapor rises and goes through a water chamber where the mercury vapor is cooled and comes out of the closed circuit as liquid mercury....and in the chamber where you originally placed the mercury saturated with gold/silver/and the platinum group metals...will be a small button of melted metal containing all, the metals that mercury absorbs....
From this point, one would need to "refine" the button to separate the different metals...
Below is a diagram of a retort... they are actually easy to build and use.. just use a lot of common sense... take it slow and easy and always have a breeze, either naturally or artificially at your back with the retort in front of you..and always use outside.. never inside....
Here is a good website that shows all the things about mercury and how to use mercury in collecting fine gold...as well as how to use a retort..
http://nevada-outback-gems.com/Reference_pages/Amalgamation.htm
DISCLAIMER******
This posting is not at all intended as for advise in how to use mercury and THE collecting fine gold and retorting the mercury.... if you. after reading this posting and you choose to use mercury and or a retort, and something goes wrong... I have stated this disclaimer and will be held harmless in all ways, cases and uses of mercury and a retort in any form or fashion...and you are openly and seriously advised to seek the help of a professional smelter or refinery company... as I am neither....
PROCEED WITHIN YOUR OWN RISK.!!!!..AND SERVE YOUR OWN CONSEQUENCES...!!!
Today... I recommend you use a RP-4 from Global Mining Solutions
www.globalminingsolutions.com
It handles like around 600 pounds an hour of black sand concentrates....captures down to -1 micon ..actually it is better than that... and with a couple of runs... you can really capture most of the really fine gold free milling gold from the black sands....the rest of the black sand will still have some Nobel metals, just keep once you have large drum of them, have them refined or smelted some day....the ICMJ has several advertisements from professional companies...
The RP-4 sells around $2,500 retail...plus shipping... and it ships real easy... very light weight, but sturdy...
For my money.... I'd rather use something as simple as the RP-4..... than run the chance to become very ill or dead using mercury..... and at $1500 plus an ounce... just 1 1/2 ounces gets your investment back.... possibly within your first outing, wether you are dry washing.. high banking or dredging...
Just makes sense to me...
Good luck to all...happy gold prospecting....
Klondike
