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I have heard about that, But I have to be honest it be hard for me not to eat that spud, hahahahaNugget said:
Mercury Use and Recovering Gold from Amalgam information and questions
- Thread starter Golden Tiger
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Greg
I had a chat whith an old timer just a few weeks ago as we dug he explained how they used mercury as it stuck to the gold like s**t to a blanket and showed me a few bits just like yours, he then told me the best way to remove it was the potato method, don't eat the potato ha ha ha and cook it in a fire outside not in an enclosed room 
Hope this helps.
Nice gold there by the way
Hope this helps.
Nice gold there by the way
Balx said:
I have seen mercury on gold from Oallen NSW. look closely at this pic. I thought it was lead at first but it only appeared on parts of the gold flakes.
rgds
Barry
Defiantly looks like mercury, but some nice looking gold
I made a video a while ago on some fine gold reacting with mercury.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ifD8uyMGU_k
First four minutes is just the fine gold floating, the last four minutes is the mercury and gold amalgam and the heavies that were left.
I made a video a while ago on some fine gold reacting with mercury.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ifD8uyMGU_k
First four minutes is just the fine gold floating, the last four minutes is the mercury and gold amalgam and the heavies that were left.
Guys be extremely careful with Mercury it is not something you want either yourself or your loved ones to touch or inhale. Know what you are dealing with here.
It's considered highly hazardous by most countries and all mercury containing waste is considered hazardous and requires special disposal considerations.
All forms of mercury are toxic.
Mercury poisoning can result from inhalation, ingestion, and injection or absorption through the skin.
The effects from exposure to mercury vapor or skin contact with mercury may not be noticeable for months or years.
We are not talking large quantities here either. If you've been exposed to it in any way get to your doctor and get checked.
It rapidly penetrates the skin resulting in severe exposure from very minor quantities, which can be fatal.
After absorption, mercury is carried by the blood to the central nervous system where it is oxidized and ionised, trapping it there.
It's that process that produces injury and adds to its extremely toxic effects.
Mercury is known to have toxic effects on fetuses of exposed mothers.
It was responsible for the death of a laboratory worker in the United States in 1997 due to the use of inappropriate (latex) gloves.
Extreme caution is required when working with this material and when selecting protective gear.
Persons exposed to mercury will develop worsening tremors of the hands, impaired vision and hearing, and paralysis.
Extreme shyness, insomnia, and emotional instability are also symptoms to look out for.
Hat makers used to cure felt in pools of mercury by hand and developed mad hatters disease as it was known.
Mercury vapors can reach very high levels when the liquid is heated. Such levels will cause adverse effects in humans almost immediately. i.e. Burning it off in a potatoe is not a gold idea, the only safe way is in a retort.
Do not expose it to materials such as aluminum, magnesium, zinc, copper, brass, or bronze which can cause it to combust.
It is a severe fire hazard, with a flash point of -4C.
Always keep it in glass and always under water where it is inert.
It's considered highly hazardous by most countries and all mercury containing waste is considered hazardous and requires special disposal considerations.
All forms of mercury are toxic.
Mercury poisoning can result from inhalation, ingestion, and injection or absorption through the skin.
The effects from exposure to mercury vapor or skin contact with mercury may not be noticeable for months or years.
We are not talking large quantities here either. If you've been exposed to it in any way get to your doctor and get checked.
It rapidly penetrates the skin resulting in severe exposure from very minor quantities, which can be fatal.
After absorption, mercury is carried by the blood to the central nervous system where it is oxidized and ionised, trapping it there.
It's that process that produces injury and adds to its extremely toxic effects.
Mercury is known to have toxic effects on fetuses of exposed mothers.
It was responsible for the death of a laboratory worker in the United States in 1997 due to the use of inappropriate (latex) gloves.
Extreme caution is required when working with this material and when selecting protective gear.
Persons exposed to mercury will develop worsening tremors of the hands, impaired vision and hearing, and paralysis.
Extreme shyness, insomnia, and emotional instability are also symptoms to look out for.
Hat makers used to cure felt in pools of mercury by hand and developed mad hatters disease as it was known.
Mercury vapors can reach very high levels when the liquid is heated. Such levels will cause adverse effects in humans almost immediately. i.e. Burning it off in a potatoe is not a gold idea, the only safe way is in a retort.
Do not expose it to materials such as aluminum, magnesium, zinc, copper, brass, or bronze which can cause it to combust.
It is a severe fire hazard, with a flash point of -4C.
Always keep it in glass and always under water where it is inert.
It does indeed spread, I did a couple hours test panning at a particular spot, found a chunky what is thought was a silver heavy of some sort and put it in with my finds, when I was back at the car I had 2 silver specs and thought oh I've got two. A couple days later there's about 20 out of the say 60specs with partial silver patches on them, all off the 1 piece. Now it's my experiment in its own jar but it's been a couple months now and seems its spread as much as it can. My guess was mercury also, whatever it is it looks exactly the same as your pics.
No tremors, deafness (other than age and loud parties damage), only slightly farsighted and I just walked to the kitchen for some late night snacking Phew!gcause said:
Oh drat! You sure it's not PMS you describe there? ;-)gcause said:
That floating gold is mesmerising, Shivan. It may have been the music in the vid, but I found those little floating golden island very calming.
The related videos are interesting too:
Hi Piep I wish you all the best.
Here is the education campaign they ran in the Phillipines after many deaths caused by Mercury poisioning of miners and their families. They were also poisioning the rivers so others were dying downstream from them.
Here is the education campaign they ran in the Phillipines after many deaths caused by Mercury poisioning of miners and their families. They were also poisioning the rivers so others were dying downstream from them.
Mercury is defiantly toxic and care needs to be taken, but there seems to be a bit of miss-information floating about.
For common mercury or quicksilver the vapour is the real killer. While you should wear gloves while handling it normal mercury will not be absorbed by the human skin, and would need an open wound for that to happen. In relation to the death of a laboratory worker in the United States in 1997 due to the use of inappropriate (latex) gloves, that was Dimethylmercury, which is quiet different to normal mercury.
For common mercury or quicksilver the vapour is the real killer. While you should wear gloves while handling it normal mercury will not be absorbed by the human skin, and would need an open wound for that to happen. In relation to the death of a laboratory worker in the United States in 1997 due to the use of inappropriate (latex) gloves, that was Dimethylmercury, which is quiet different to normal mercury.
I have never heard this before, as mercury would amalgamate with most of those metals, so no combustion there.
This makes no sense as mercury is non-volatile and will not form an ignitable mixture in air, so there is no flashpoint though it has an extremely low vaporisation point.
G
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gcause please read 3rd post. hahaha
hahaha
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Yep that is mercury or as we call it amalgam. You can use Chemicals to remove the mercury but it is just as easy to burn it off. The potato method works but by far the best way is to retort the mercury. Google the PDF file A Simple Retort by the way if you wear a wedding ring while handling amalgam watch out.
http://practicalaction.org/docs/technical_information_service/mercury_retort.pdf
http://practicalaction.org/docs/technical_information_service/mercury_retort.pdf
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I forgot to mention that mercury will also destroy a aluminum sluice or Highbanker by pitting or dissolving the aluminum where it is deposited within the equipment.
Taken From Science-Based Life.
What mercury actually does to aluminum, as seen in the video below, is penetrate the protective oxide (rust) layer of the aluminum, allowing it to rust much more rapidly. The mercury allows the surface of the aluminum to be constantly exposed to the air, creating a continuous rusting process that in effect eats away the metal.
Of course this normally doesnt happen, as an oxide layer naturally forms on the aluminum almost instantly, protecting it from further rusting. However, mercury inhibits that process, and it looks awesome, even in time-elapsed video.
http://sciencebasedlife.wordpress.com/2011/03/24/mercury-eats-aluminum/
Taken From Science-Based Life.
What mercury actually does to aluminum, as seen in the video below, is penetrate the protective oxide (rust) layer of the aluminum, allowing it to rust much more rapidly. The mercury allows the surface of the aluminum to be constantly exposed to the air, creating a continuous rusting process that in effect eats away the metal.
Of course this normally doesnt happen, as an oxide layer naturally forms on the aluminum almost instantly, protecting it from further rusting. However, mercury inhibits that process, and it looks awesome, even in time-elapsed video.
http://sciencebasedlife.wordpress.com/2011/03/24/mercury-eats-aluminum/
PipeclayJim said:
spot on there pipeclay jim
I've hit quite a few areas with plenty of mercury in them and find that a little light sanding does help to bring on oxidization
shivan said:
In oceans, freshwater, or soil biochemical and bacterial processes can transform elemental mercury (Hg) into methylmercury (MeHg). Methylmercury absorbs into the body much more easily than inorganic mercury, breaks through the body's normal barriers to toxins, and remains in the body far longer than elemental mercury.
How long has that mercury on that gold been in the soil or the freshwater of that creek? It is now a different element to what the original miner was using way back then.
Read this:
http://www.unep.org/PDF/PressReleases/GlobalMercuryAssessment2013.pdf
If you are going to play with mercury check this clip out first.
Makes you think that what we did as kids was not real smart.
We might all have been nuclear physicists or brain sergeons
[video=480,360]http://youtu.be/JABbofwD3MI[/video]
Makes you think that what we did as kids was not real smart.
We might all have been nuclear physicists or brain sergeons
[video=480,360]http://youtu.be/JABbofwD3MI[/video]
So I was panning today and got about a half gram, but there is a little bit of mercury in there, how do I get rid of this sadly without chemicals?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.
Thanks guys
Mercury will evaporate off if the gold is melted down but beware the mercury vapor is toxic, in my experience I have found that plenty of ventilation and a decent gas mask are needed before attempting it. The old timers who used mercury a lot used to recapture the mercury in a retort for re use.
Cheers
Barry
Cheers
Barry
Because you are talking of a miniscule quantity I will tell you (but not recommend) that heating your gold will drive off the mercury in the form of vapour BUT BE AWARE THAT IT IS A TOXIC VAPOUR.
You need only put a camp stove in an open area, gold in an pan with medium heat then walk away - come back and check in five minutes but DO NOT PUT YOUR FACE OVER THE PAN whilst it is hot.
casper
You need only put a camp stove in an open area, gold in an pan with medium heat then walk away - come back and check in five minutes but DO NOT PUT YOUR FACE OVER THE PAN whilst it is hot.
casper
Yea wicked, I have a massive backyard lll just do that at the bottom and walk away for a bit.
Thanks guys
Thanks guys
Does anyone know if that Toxic Vapor stays active in the breeze....? I dont want it to travel down the road potentionaly killing school kids..goats..chooks....maby the odd trapper!
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