Indonesian Gold Mining and Mercury

[DizzyDigger]

This is a very interesting article on how the small-scale Indonesian
gold miners have been dealing with their mercury. Glad to see that
some effort is being made to bring them into the modern age, but
also wondering what kind of health damage will persist.

Simple chemistry saving thousands of gold miners from mercury poisoning | Chemistry World

 

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[Duckshot]

I saw something about this a while back. They claim they get more gold using borax than they can using mercury. I am not convinced.

Here is the video I saw a while back-

 

[gold tramp]

its just one of those things we deal with in mining full time,
the gold she so fine the only way to get it is Hg.
you cant sluice this fine gold to get it, use a bowl or even a table is a pain. when running tons of material you end up with buckets n buckets of heavys unless you can afford to leach the only way to access the gold is Mercury.
Without mercury we dont mine.

I have tried many differant ways to recover fine hardrock gold its a beast in its self. best way i could find was Hg just cant beat it for grabin that fine gold.

GT.....................

 

[2cmorau]

i know most don't like my post, but here goes anyway, have ya all seen the this, It a Fin joke
where the borax used in the process, it's not used until they go to the retort stage
i will stick to my method, mercury and retort

so point out please help me understand what i missed

 

[ConceptualizedNetherlandr]

its just one of those things we deal with in mining full time,
the gold she so fine the only way to get it is Hg.
you cant sluice this fine gold to get it, use a bowl or even a table is a pain. when running tons of material you end up with buckets n buckets of heavys unless you can afford to leach the only way to access the gold is Mercury.
Without mercury we dont mine.

I have tried many differant ways to recover fine hardrock gold its a beast in its self. best way i could find was Hg just cant beat it for grabin that fine gold.

GT.....................

What size do you consider too fine for any other method? Thanks

 

[Duckshot]

i know most don't like my post, but here goes anyway, have ya all seen the this, It a Fin joke
where the borax used in the process, it's not used until they go to the retort stage
i will stick to my method, mercury and retort

so point out please help me understand what i missed

It looks to me like they heat the borax, sand, and gold in to a molten sea till the sand floats on the borax flux. They get a glass bead with a gold bead in it.

I am not familiar with mercury, do you end up with a glob of gold of unknown purity? Cause that's what the borax guys get. It's gotta be hard to trade for a fair price.

 

[goldenIrishman]

After watching the video that Dizzy posted the link to I was struck by how similar that palm matting is to Miners Moss. Looks like about the same structure only a lot finer on the weave. If someone was smart and took a sample of the palm matting and examined the structure I really think that a man made substitute could be made. Maybe a fine weave version of "Scotch-Brite" in large enough sizes to be used in a sluice? I'll have to give that a try one of these days I guess.

While I do use Mercury, I've always been very careful in handling it to make sure that none is released into the environment and that I' don't expose myself or others to it. Proper retort method etc. Even so, it's a time consuming process and not without its dangers. If I could get away from using it at all I'd be a lot happier.

 

[gold tramp]

What size do you consider too fine for any other method? Thanks

anything that stays above 45 we can get clean enough to smelt, the finer it is just to much trouble trying to get out of sulfide mix, very time consuming to table.


Wish i had some one wanted to play around do some leachings with me.


View attachment 1204394

 

[goldenIrishman]

I saw a small leaching system setup a few months ago Herb. Guy had made it out of hydroponic stands and trays. I'll see if I can find the article again and send you the link. It's small enough where you could do it on the cheap.

 

[gold tramp]

I saw a small leaching system setup a few months ago Herb. Guy had made it out of hydroponic stands and trays. I'll see if I can find the article again and send you the link. It's small enough where you could do it on the cheap.

I have a pachuka system already just have to assemble and get chemicals,
may attempt to do this next summer.

will have to go back to work for a spell to be able to afford to buy the needed supplies, i have the ore, thats the most important part of the opp.

Thanks GT..................

 

[KevinInColorado]

anything that stays above 45 we can get clean enough to smelt, the finer it is just to much trouble trying to get out of sulfide mix, very time consuming to table.


Wish i had some one wanted to play around do some leachings with me.


View attachment 1204394

Angus Mackirk sells a workshop scale leaching system...check it out on their website, it's on sale right now!

 

[ConceptualizedNetherlandr]

anything that stays above 45 we can get clean enough to smelt, the finer it is just to much trouble trying to get out of sulfide mix, very time consuming to table.


Wish i had some one wanted to play around do some leachings with me.


View attachment 1204394

Color me surprised at that large size. Many of the sluicers clean up way beyond that.

What do you do with the finer stuff, and can I have it?

 

[Bill_saf]

Heres some more info on borax

Using Borax Flux to Refine Gold

Artisanal Gold Council Blog: Is Borax the Miracle Chemical that Will Replace Mercury in Artisanal Gold Mining?

Bill

 

[Varun]

P.M.Recovery Systems

After leaching and loading in carbon the gold could be recovered by electrowinning sold by P.M.Recovery SystemsView attachment close Loop.pdf

 

[Capt Nemo]

45 mesh or microns? Both can be caught, concentrated, and cleaned up in a pan or sluice easily. Only below 37 microns would you want to start looking at chemical/mercury extraction.