Thermal City gold?

[RandallSC]

Been going through some cons from thermal city and finding gold flakes with silver color to it. Is this mercury that was being used upstream to separate the gold. A guy had some nuggets he got from dredging while I was there with some silver color to it. He said it was because of mercury. New to this so any input is helpful. Thanks.

 

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[63bkpkr]

Most likely any silver coating on gold will be from Mercury and it will taint any non-mercury gold it is put in with. Hope you find tons of it............63bkpkr

 

[RandallSC]

Taint? Is this bad? Should I attempt to keep it separate?

 

[huntsman53]

Just sit your' Gold Pan outside in the sun well away from any people or animals, preferably well off the ground. The sun will burn off the Mercury and you will be left with the nice and shiney Gold in the pan with no Silvery coloring on it.


Frank

 

[RandallSC]

Thanks

 

[dave wiseman]

The sun won't burn off the mercury...

 

[huntsman53]

The sun won't burn off the mercury...

I think that if you test it, you will find that you are wrong! I had some small Gold Pickers in my' Gold Pan some 5 or 6 years ago that had the same look to them due to Mercury. I had been showing them to a bunch of other Prospectors asking their opinion as to what it was. There were theories of Platinum, Silver and yeas, Mercury. After setting the Gold Pan (and it was black plastic one) aside in the direct sunlight due to getting busy, I was really surprised when a couple of hours later, there was nothing but the Gold pickers in the Gold Pan and no trace of the Silvery look on them or in the pan. So, yes, the sunlight will burn off Mercury! I am sure that it is not the sunlight itself that burns off the Mercury but it is from the heat generated by the sun when it shines directly into the Gold Pan! Would this work with a green or blue Gold Pan, I don't think so! I was told by some old Prospectors that whenever I find Mercury in my' Gold Pan, to transfer it to a metal Gold Pan or Iron Skillet and sit it on top of a shed in the sunlight and that after a few hours, all of the Mercury will be gone.


Frank

 

[dave wiseman]

Huntsman 53,It's nice it worked for you.I'm just glad I don't live on a planet where the sunlight is that strong.In all seriousness after mining has been done in this country for over 150 years why is there no reference to this method?

 

[calisdad]

I don't know if this method works or not, but after watching a friends pan blow away and send his days work to the wind I would put a heavy rock in it or use cast iron. It's a nice problem to have. isn't it?

 

[huntsman53]

Huntsman 53,It's nice it worked for you.I'm just glad I don't live on a planet where the sunlight is that strong.In all seriousness after mining has been done in this country for over 150 years why is there no reference to this method?

I can't explain it but stranger crap has happened than just this scenario! Below, I have copied the PM correspondence between myself and Oakview2 and I stand behind what I stated. Since you don't know me, I will tell you that others that do know me will tell you that I am honest, sometimes bluntly so and I shoot straight in everything I do or say!


Frank

Originally Posted by Oakview2
Frank

I believe it takes temps from 400 to 700 degrees to change mercury from a solid to a gas. It would be near impossilbe to sustain those temps on the hottest of days, and even if you could why would you want to release it air, have it cool and fall to the ground around your house? PS Dave Wiseman is a long time, motherload hard rock miner. Good health and good hunting. Here are some simple youtube videos on making and using a retort.

My Reply:
I understand what you are saying but I know that the Mercury on my' Gold Pickers in my' Gold Pan disappeared while the Gold Pan was sitting in direct sunlight! It just didn't turn invisible and even the other folks were scratching their' heads over it when I showed them that the Silvery color was gone.


Frank

Originally Posted by Oakview2
Franksically
Perhaps someone was playing a practical joke? Knowing the properties of mercury, it does not seem physically possible. All the best.

My Reply:
How would someone play a practical joke on me? I panned the Gold pickers from a stream in Southeast, Tennessee and when the Mercury disappeared, my' Gold Pan was never out of my sight!


Frank

END

 

[gold tramp]

Just put a nugget in HG 2 o clock full sun 115 degrees black pan, we shall see if the sun will do the trick. Myth busters ...

 

[dave wiseman]

Frank,I wasn't inferring your not truthfull.I'm happy it works for you.Good luck in your future mining endeavors...Dave.

 

[Goodyguy]

The other scenario is that the silver coating was not really mercury but something else.

GG~

 

[huntsman53]

Frank,I wasn't inferring your not truthfull.I'm happy it works for you.Good luck in your future mining endeavors...Dave.

No problem and I am sorry that I went on the defensive but that is how the PM's and postings came off to me! Although it has been many years ago since I bought most of my' Gold prospecting equipment from an old Gold prospector here, I can clearly remember him telling me that Mercury could be burnt off by placing it in a metal Gold pan or skillet and sitting it on the roof of a shed or other elevated suface well away from anyone or any animals. I just assumed he was correct and truthful in what he said as he probably had more than 40 ounces of Gold nuggets that he had found over the years from North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington State, Montana and Alaska and even some from Central and South America. I tried and tried several times to talk him into selling me his' Gold nuggets but he refused as he said that he was saving them for his daughter and grandson.


Frank

 

[huntsman53]

The other scenario is that the silver coating was not really mercury but something else.

GG~

Okay, you tell me what it could have been! The Gold pickers with the silvery substance on them came from a mountain stream where there has not been any major prospecting on since around the 1920's.


Frank

 

[fowledup]

It's not "burning" it off, it is simply accelerating the naturally slow evaporation process that occurs with mercury. As Oakview2 said mercury has a boiling point of 674 degrees, you are obviously not going to exceed or sustain that on the hottest of days. One thing to be aware of is that the vapor will "soak" into any nearby porous surface and remain. I've got some mercury dipped gold, if I get a chance this weekend I'll do a photo documentary and post it up, wish I could do a time lapse that would be cool.

 

[Fullpan]

You guys should think about the different occurences of mercury when recovering gold. There are puddles of merc, there is loose amalgam of merc and gold,
and there is very thin coatings of merc on gold. fowledup was closest when he said slow evaporation in the warm heat of sunlight acting on very thin films
of merc on gold. If you have time, you can wade thru the six "R"s of merc remediation by the EPA from their cleanup guidebook. In the guidebook, after liquid merc has been removed, they wash/spray contaminated area with a chemical that increases the rate of volitization/evaporation, turn on heaters and blowers raising the temperature to above 85 degrees, and monitor for 4 hours. Here's the link:

Mercury Releases and Spills | Mercury | US EPA

So, in different settings, everyone is correct.

 

[Oakview2]

Frank

I sent you the PM because I was trying to inform of science without embarassing you. I NEVER said you were not truthful, and offered a explanation to the scenario you described. Sorry you misunderstood, and I will refrain from responding to you since you seem to be rather thin skinned. Good health and good hunting...

 

[huntsman53]

Frank

I sent you the PM because I was trying to inform of science without embarassing you. I NEVER said you were not truthful, and offered a explanation to the scenario you described. Sorry you misunderstood, and I will refrain from responding to you since you seem to be rather thin skinned. Good health and good hunting...

You would not have embarrased me in a post instead or a PM because I was stating the truth and the facts of what happened! I am actually very thick skinned but don't appreciate things like you wrote in the PM as highlighted in red below. I don't know and had no way of knowing whether it was an attempt at humor or putting me down!

Originally Posted by Oakview2
Franksically
Perhaps someone was playing a practical joke? Knowing the properties of mercury, it does not seem physically possible. All the best.

Frank

 

[KevinInColorado]

Since liquid mercury (including when lightly coating precious metals) slowly evaporates at room temp (my high school chemistry teacher got mercury poisoning that way which almost killed her before it was diagnosed! ...happened when she worked in a private lab, not at the high school!), it will certainly evaporate faster at higher temps in a dark pan on a sunny day. What this means to you:
1. Mercury could be evaporating out of your cons so you should always dry cons outside...not in your basement workroom!
2. Cons in a vehicle should be kept wet and in a sealed container
3. If you can, segregate any mercury coated gold and store it in water so the merc can't evaporate. Once you have a bunch, find another prospector with a mercury retort and retort off the merc. Then you can reuse it to pull that -200 and smaller gold from you really fine cons. Or you can turn it in as toxic waste or give it to your new friend with the retort as he probably has good uses for it.