If Mercury works...Then why not use it?

[Cappy Z.]

I am NO expert...my knowledge is limited to the Gold Fever Show...but why don't more people use Mercury...I watched three shows on Discovery..and it is Amazing how Mercury combines with flour gold...they are using this technique in the Amazon jungle...and they are getting great finds...

..okay..now give it to me...

 

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[ok2raise]

poision fumes
poision liquid

 

[Cappy Z.]

look I'm no tree hugger...the Spanish ands others used Mercury for a 1000 years to extract Gold...

It has its place!

 

[ivan salis]

yes the spanish used mercury to refine gold long ago --and they killed thousands of indains and african slaves in the process -- its the 3rd most deadly substance known to mankind --other than that no sweat -- mercury has its place in professional level use -- in the hands of unskilled folks --its deadly both to them and everyone else.

 

[Cappy Z.]

yes the spanish used mercury to refine gold long ago --and they killed thousands of indains and african slaves in the process -- its the 3rd most deadly substance known to mankind --other than that no sweat -- mercury has its place in professional level use -- in the hands of unskilled folks --its deadly both to them and everyone else.

..I stand corrected! 8)

 

[AUDuke]

I am 75 yrs old and in good health and have used mercury for gold recovery for over 50 years. Just use a little common sense with it. Drano is toxic but people use it every day

 

[ivan salis]

common sense is not as common as it once was AU Duke --most old timers know that todays folks tend to be rather "careless" in the proper hands and treated with the right amount of repect is one thing --but in the hands of foolish folks its a major problem.

 

[TAKODA]

Go'in with AU Duke on this one . With informed , competent , handling ....... it's a non-issue . Period .

There are people out here that think mercury is man made and it's the worst plague going on planet earth . Ignorance might be bliss . But it's no way to go through life . It'll bite ya ........ sooner or later .

 

[EdleBrock]

They used a lot of it back in the rush in AZ.... Every place I prospected had mercury. From what I read and others have posted it is toxic if ingested, even through the skin...

One of the books I read years ago told stories of the prospectors putting the amalgamate in a carved out a potato(e) and into the fire...after a bit, the mercury would vaproize into the spud and they would be left with a button of gold...and then have baked potatoes for dinner...off to sleep...forever...

 

[Oroblanco]

Hola amigo Cappy Z,
Use it; be very careful with it, as you would with any toxic substance, but I see no reason not to use it if you have flour gold you wish to recover. I would recommend keeping the operation completely "closed" <but well ventilated> for safety reasons and so that you can recover all of your mercury; it is expensive to buy and you don't want it polluting the watershed.

ApothecaryJames wrote

where do you even get mercury

Try AB Prospecting supply, they carry most assay and refining chems;
http://www.abprospecting.com/id6.html

Oroblanco

 

[Cappy Z.]

Thanks for the link Oroblanco...I see they sell Mercury masks as well..I bet a good manual 'How to' also.

 

[Sam Burgin]

Mercury indeed works, but not necessarily as well as you may think. If you really want all your gold recovered, you need to think less about the shiny stuff you can see, and more about the remaining stuff in your concentrates.

The best way to get it all is through smelting, that should be your goal. Exposing everyone to toxic mercurial oxide is a bold step to recover a few specks that can be panned out. The first thing to consider with mercury is the downwind effect.

Get a good set of classifiers, especially include a 70 or 80 mesh for that gap between 50 and 100, and pan whats left on the screen. Even at 170+ mesh, the gold will jump to the top of the pan if it is the heaviest thing in the pan.

Check out mercury free recovery of fine gold.

http://www.nextstepmining.com/

Good luck,

Sam

 

[Hoser John]

Great stuff mercury is but in the wrong hands ooooooooooo nasty lil'ol'bugger. I saw a friend die in Costa Mesa at his laboratory after a fan quit in his burnoff room-35 years experience and fish food. Guy burned off mercury at Union flats on the Yuba and killed him,wife and 2 kids. I could go on for hours with BOTH good and bad on mercury. I have used it for over 53 years and this ol'dog still going but certified union trained lab tech too. I prefer chemical extraction and completely stopped making retorts(for making retards) and mercury presses too-liability tooo much-John

 

[Unicorn]

A good few years ago I worked in a Dental Surgery, and mercury was and maybe still is used in amalagm fillings. If i knew then what I know now about mercury, I certainly wouldn't have handled it quite so freely. After mixing it in the little bowl, we found that rolling it in the palm of your hand with your thumb we could feel when it was just the right mix to be used for your filling.

U.

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

HIO Peeps": During WW-2, I was a master horizontal bombardier and Nordan Bombsight mech. Since the Nordan bombsight was still considered secret at that time, we had to work in a closed, unventilated (no electricity there) Quonset Hut, temps ran to around 135 F. Shall I say hot and humid?

To establish a true vertical, we used open pools of mercury about 6 " in diameter to calibrate the telescope's vertical, a critical factor.

Now pools of open mercury at 135 F = close to a sat point of releasing mercury vapor.

I might also add that we filled hypodermics with the mercury and shot down flies with it ?? sheesh.

To cap it off, we used Carbontetrachloride to wash the basic parts with, 180 proof alky was used to clean the lens with - it had a horrible evaporation rate that just equalled it's trading value hehehehe

I sort a giggle when I now see that if a Mercury based thermometer is broken, you must redo the entire house. For your dental work, you may end up with a full drop of mercury in your tummy, yet Need I remind you that a drop of mercury is used is 'all' energy saving light bulbs?

In any event, we worked for over a year under these conditions, the worst possibly imaginable, no-one knew better, yet no-one developed any adverse symptoms ?? I haven't degenerated into a drooling idiot, yet, but don't ask my wife, she is prejudiced.

It appears that form of the mercury is it's basic, danger classification. Pure liquid mercury seem to be the least harmful.

In fact, a tablespoon of mercury orally, was the standard recommendation for constipation in my US Pharm of 1849?

So use the mercury if you wish, be confident that it doesn't equal cyanide, but read and follow all of the safety instructions.

Don Jose de La Mancha el *Tropical Trampo*

 

[Sam Burgin]

Mercury in it's liquid state can be rather benign. Heated mercury vapor and gas can be very deadly.

Learn what you're doing first!!!


Sam

 

[Tuberale]

I am 75 yrs old and in good health and have used mercury for gold recovery for over 50 years. Just use a little common sense with it. Drano is toxic but people use it every day

And you can drown in water. But without water, you die. I'm reminded of the saying "If sense were common there'd be less need for it."

I take it you ONLY handled mercury with gloves in a well-ventilated, cool environment? Mercury can be absorbed through the skin. Like lead, it is a cumulative poison. It causes teeth loss, hair loss, bone loss, dementia and death. It is possible to decrease the body's heavy metal contamination via extensive sauna use, but you are also inhaling mercury fumes given off by your body, so where's the net loss?

Mercury can start to evaporate at 80 degrees F., and inhaled mercury is pretty toxic. 49'ers used to place a mercury-gold amalgam blob inside a potato and bake it in the ashes of a fire. Mercury would be cooked out and only the gold button remained. No word how many miners this method killed. The streams where mercury was used extensively still have high mercury concentrations in them ...

Lewis Carroll's "Alice Through the Lookingglass" included the character The Mad Hatter. Mercury was long used to work felt for hats, hence the term "mad as a hatter."

BTW, the Lost Ed Scheifflin Mine was caused, apparently, from handling mercury in an unsafe environment. For those who are not aware, Ed Scheifflin was the original discoverer of the Tombstone, Arizona silver mines. He died in Oregon, near the Bohemia Mining District. Cause of death according to coroner was death by mercury fumes. On his table, where the body was found, was a sample of gold ore as well as his diary. The last entry: "Found it at last. Richer than Tombstone ever hoped to be."

Some of the richest gold ore ever reported from Oregon was found on the table too.

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

HI again: I forgot to mention that when I had Arsenic poisoning I found that heavy metal poisoning was cured by using massive doses of Vit "C".in the 1930's. It was found to be an excellent chelating agent for all heavy metals. I used 1000 mg initially, in three doses a day, then raised it to 5000. In a week all of my arsenic poisoning symptoms were gone, and shortly after, my AA of my urine and saliva, showed me to be completely free of any heavy metals.

Soooooo hint, if you are going to use mercury take 2 -3000 milligrams of Vit "C" daily

Don Jose de La Mancha el *Tropical Trampo*

 

[truckinbutch]

HI again: I forgot to mention that when I had Arsenic poisoning I found that heavy metal poisoning was cured by using massive doses of Vit "C".in the 1930's. It was found to be an excellent chelating agent for all heavy metals. I used 1000 mg initially, in three doses a day, then raised it to 5000. In a week all of my arsenic poisoning symptoms were gone, and shortly after, my AA of my urine and saliva, showed me to be completely free of any heavy metals.

Soooooo hint, if you are going to use mercury take 2 -3000 milligrams of Vit "C" daily

Don Jose de La Mancha el *Tropical Trampo*

Thank you , my friend , for lighting candles instead of cursing the darkness .
Jim

 

[Hoser John]

In OC Kalif in Costa Mesa there was in the mid 80's the Institute For Chelation Therapy and got cleansed myself from lead,nickel and mercury. Loys of EDTA and blood tests every 3 days to prevent amneia,but still carzy as all holy LL?? . John