Mercury Use and Recovering Gold from Amalgam information and questions

[Auric]

Thanks Guys.

As long as the gold is still there I am happy.

I think I will leave it alone for now if it's mercury.

:Y:

 

[Brumble-Gum]

A good tip with mercury covered gold.
Dont mix your clean gold with your mercury covered gold. Otherwise you will have all your gold with some mercury on it. That way you only have to remove a small amount later on.

 

[Gimp]

And store it in water to prevent vaporization of the Hg

 

[19.3]

Fascinating - thanks Stru!

I know when I was very young used to roll the mercury around in my hand - probably not such a smart thing to do. Also used to convert copper pennies into 'silver' pennies!

Mercury can be such fun...

 

[Hunting the yellow]

num num num feed me num num gold cookies !! :lol:

 

[Goldfreak]

Why does mercury coat gold ? by that I mean kinda crawl around it ? Is it just the amalgamation process or more to do with surface tension or both or some other factor ?

 

[savage bitter]

goggle it its all there :/

 

[Ded Driver]

this mostly covers it
https://www.quora.com/Why-does-merc...as-gold-silver-zinc-aluminum-etc-but-not-iron

 

[steve f]

very interesting

 

[Goldfreak]

Appears to be just the way it amalgimates. Gold leaf looks like it gets sucked into it.

 

[Rev rev Trev]

Warning - Restricted hazardous chemicals/dangerous goods use or discussion isn't endorsed by Forum Management. Individuals using any hazardous chemicals/dangerous goods do so at their own risk/s and need to ensure their own legislative compliance.

I got about 3/4 ounce of amalgalm that I want to treat. I have done retorts before but am ken of any ways to treat this stuff without getting the mercury gaseous
]

 

[madtuna]

Retort is about the only method I know Trev and if done correctly with a good retort there is no danger what so ever and all your mercury is saved.

 

[goldtrapper]

You could try the leather chamois. But still need to retort whats left.

 

[Rev rev Trev]

Thanks guys

 

[jethro]

There is a process for disolving mercury using nitric acid but the process needs a fair bit of chemical / metalurgical knowhow. It also produces nitric oxides (a brown gas ) called red death and the solution is highly toxic as well. You can retrieve most of the mercury in solution by putting a strip of copper in the liquid causing the mercury to drop out of solution and be replaced by copper. I have not tried it as my chemical knowledge is about yr10 level. :awful:

 

[grubstake]

There is a process for disolving mercury using nitric acid but the process needs a fair bit of chemical / metalurgical knowhow. It also produces nitric oxides (a brown gas ) called red death and the solution is highly toxic as well. You can retrieve most of the mercury in solution by putting a strip of copper in the liquid causing the mercury to drop out of solution and be replaced by copper. I have not tried it as my chemical knowledge is about yr10 level. :awful:

Also, its usage in making explosives and rocket fuel, means that buying nitric acid nowadays may get you on to a "potential terrorist" list. ]

 

[Gimp]

There is a process for disolving mercury using nitric acid but the process needs a fair bit of chemical / metalurgical knowhow. It also produces nitric oxides (a brown gas ) called red death and the solution is highly toxic as well. You can retrieve most of the mercury in solution by putting a strip of copper in the liquid causing the mercury to drop out of solution and be replaced by copper. I have not tried it as my chemical knowledge is about yr10 level. :awful:

Also, its usage in making explosives and rocket fuel, means that buying nitric acid nowadays may get you on to a "potential terrorist" list. ]

Bs, alarmist misinformation

 

[grubstake]

There is a process for disolving mercury using nitric acid but the process needs a fair bit of chemical / metalurgical knowhow. It also produces nitric oxides (a brown gas ) called red death and the solution is highly toxic as well. You can retrieve most of the mercury in solution by putting a strip of copper in the liquid causing the mercury to drop out of solution and be replaced by copper. I have not tried it as my chemical knowledge is about yr10 level. :awful:

Also, its usage in making explosives and rocket fuel, means that buying nitric acid nowadays may get you on to a "potential terrorist" list. ]

Bs, alarmist misinformation

And you know this because...

 

[Gimp]

There is a process for disolving mercury using nitric acid but the process needs a fair bit of chemical / metalurgical knowhow. It also produces nitric oxides (a brown gas ) called red death and the solution is highly toxic as well. You can retrieve most of the mercury in solution by putting a strip of copper in the liquid causing the mercury to drop out of solution and be replaced by copper. I have not tried it as my chemical knowledge is about yr10 level. :awful:

Also, its usage in making explosives and rocket fuel, means that buying nitric acid nowadays may get you on to a "potential terrorist" list. ]

Bs, alarmist misinformation

And you know this because...

Well I was going to ask the same.
Think Brickies acid in Bunnings, think fertilizers in rural buying stores, think school science departments heaps of nitric is sold commercially as well as other bomb making ingredients. Sheet they watching who buys Condies crystals too. 30% hydrogen peroxide maybe but not nitric.
Now can you reference ANY literature to back your myth?

 

[grubstake]

There is a process for disolving mercury using nitric acid but the process needs a fair bit of chemical / metalurgical knowhow. It also produces nitric oxides (a brown gas ) called red death and the solution is highly toxic as well. You can retrieve most of the mercury in solution by putting a strip of copper in the liquid causing the mercury to drop out of solution and be replaced by copper. I have not tried it as my chemical knowledge is about yr10 level. :awful:

Also, its usage in making explosives and rocket fuel, means that buying nitric acid nowadays may get you on to a "potential terrorist" list. ]

Bs, alarmist misinformation

And you know this because...

Well I was going to ask the same.
Think Brickies acid in Bunnings, think fertilizers in rural buying stores, think school science departments heaps of nitric is sold commercially as well as other bomb making ingredients. Sheet they watching who buys Condies crystals too. 30% hydrogen peroxide maybe but not nitric.
Now can you reference ANY literature to back your myth?

Mate, you're adding no value to this thread and appear to be trolling for the sake of an argument. I suggest you do some background reading on the subject, starting with this ABC report from 2013:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05...ousehold-chemicals-used-for-terrorism/4708948

The Australian National Code of Practice for Chemicals of Security Concern (nitric acid being one of the 15 chemicals specified as precursors to homemade explosives), is available for download in PDF format here:
https://tinyurl.com/y2mba2mx

.