Recovering fine gold from mercury

[sheilareidsmail46]

Hi everyone. I have aprox: 52 grams of gold thats amalgamated with mercury. I have mining claims, its all hard rock no placer, and my gold is very fine. I crush and pan to check the grade of the ore and use mercury to clean up whats in the pan when im done. I weighed the mercury when i started doing this, and it weighs 52 grams heavier now. Whats the safest and easiest way i can get the gold seperated oit of the mercury. Thank you

 

[Yggdrasil]

Hi everyone. I have aprox: 52 grams of gold thats amalgamated with mercury. I have mining claims, its all hard rock no placer, and my gold is very fine. I crush and pan to check the grade of the ore and use mercury to clean up whats in the pan when im done. I weighed the mercury when i started doing this, and it weighs 52 grams heavier now. Whats the safest and easiest way i can get the gold seperated oit of the mercury. Thank you

Welcome to us.
We really do not recommend the use of Mercury.
You need to buy or make a retort to separate the Gold from the Mercury.

 

[Yggdrasil]

Hi everyone. I have aprox: 52 grams of gold thats amalgamated with mercury. I have mining claims, its all hard rock no placer, and my gold is very fine. I crush and pan to check the grade of the ore and use mercury to clean up whats in the pan when im done. I weighed the mercury when i started doing this, and it weighs 52 grams heavier now. Whats the safest and easiest way i can get the gold seperated oit of the mercury. Thank you

Is it really legal to use Mercury in the US?

 

[galenrog]

Is it really legal to use Mercury in the US?

No, it is not. Most of the States also have laws and regulations forbidding its use in mining.

Time for more coffee.

 

[Shark]

Retort is a good answer, but I am curious as to why use mercury without knowing the process start to finish before using it. It is easier to avoid a problem than it is to correct it.

 

[sheilareidsmail46]

Retort is a good answer, but I am curious as to why use mercury without knowing the process start to finish before using it. It is easier to avoid a problem than it is to correct it.

I was given a retort by my dad. But he passed before he was able to explain it to me. Using a retort without an experienced person walking me through the process seems a little risky to me. Ill just have to wait until i find someone with experience to help me.

 

[cosmetal]

I dredged for gold within No. California rivers for a number of years. I was fairly successful in finding placer gold. Along with the placer gold came a lot of placer mercury. So much that I ended up adding a mercury trap on the Miller Table I built to process my concentrates. I used a wet chamois press to remove most of the free mercury from my mercury amalgam. I used a cast iron retort to turn the amalgam into a gold sponge. Is it dangerous? Absolutely! Just as the refining is dangerous if you don't know what you are doing, follow proper safety procedures and wear your PPE.

There is soooo much mercury within California's river systems that it is down right scary. It is the major reason why even recreational suction dredging is not allowed here in CA and many other states.

Mercury Contamination:Toxic Legacy of the Gold Rush
https://antr.assembly.ca.gov/sites/antr.assembly.ca.gov/files/hearings/Background paper032414.pdf

Peace and health,
James

 

[cosmetal]

If you are planning on dealing with mercury, here is an excellent source for safety protocol and equipment:

Fact Sheet: Mercury​

https://ehrs.upenn.edu/health-safety/lab-safety/chemical-hygiene-plan/fact-sheets/fact-sheet-mercury#:~:text=Personal Protective Equipment&text=Standard laboratory apparel including a,protect hands from incidental contact.

Peace and health,
James

 

[Martijn]

Retort is a good answer, but I am curious as to why use mercury without knowing the process start to finish before using it. It is easier to avoid a problem than it is to correct it.

Indeed. Putting 52 grams of gold in something not knowing how to get it out. And choosing an extremely polluting and outdated recovery method.
Not telling him how to recover it would maybe be the best lesson in discouragement he can get.
A very expensive one.

 

[u4meme4u]

G day all
I have had a bit of fun with the same problem not so long ago in the end i used a1.5lt glass retort on a stove top (in fume hood) and did small lots at a time with plenty of water and had to keep it as agitated as possible and then took the gold to AR twice, It is not as easy to get out as some think and turn the hot plate up to full it needs to boil its head off you will see when all the mercury has left the gold. you will find a retort at a lab glass maker spend money dont buy cheap i hope this helps .Thank you to the forum members that helped me
NUGGET

 

[4metals]

i used a1.5lt glass retort on a stove top (in fume hood) and did small lots at a time with plenty of water and had to keep it as agitated as possible

I would appreciate a photo of a glass retort for mercury. I've only worked with metal retorts, usually cast iron.

 

[Shark]

Indeed. Putting 52 grams of gold in something not knowing how to get it out. And choosing an extremely polluting and outdated recovery method.
Not telling him how to recover it would maybe be the best lesson in discouragement he can get.
A very expensive one.

At one time cyanide was not discussed on the forum. I was always undecided on how I felt about that. It is a very useful way to work on certain types of gold and ores but had the potential to be very dangerous. Mercury could be much the same way. Since it is already a problem such as cosmetal pointed out I could see where knowing how to deal with it would be useful in removing some of it from the waterways in areas such as those mentioned. Also, used properly, especially in removing it from public waters, it has the potential to be a benefit to the area in general. Just as with cyanide, education and safety would be key. Also the users ability to follow proper protocols would be of major concern. I have always felt education is more beneficial than banning, even if the subject matter is never used.

 

[4metals]

While dredging placer gold in Ecuador in the late '80's every night when we cleaned up the dredge there were balls of mercury in the cleanup. None of which came from us. Careless use of mercury has serious effects on the environment, much worse than careful use of a retort.

The same can be said for cyanide, it's not the planned usage it's unplanned spills end exposure.

 

[cosmetal]

With all of the technology advancements since the last time I used a suction dredge, this company tried to convince the CA Fish & Game along with CalEPA to allow them to test their dredges on the North Fork of the Yuba River to remove the mercury from the hydraulic mining in that area. No go . . . ! Why? No public citizen ever found out why not.

Shell Dredging
https://www.shelldredging.com/mercury-reclamation/

Read their attached brochure.

When I dredged my claims, I held all of the necessary (at that time) permits to suction dredge along with stream alteration permits because we used motor driven power winches to move boulders within the stream/river beds. There is a definite "boulder pack" that sits on the bedrock. Good luck at moving it without using a power winch and rock nets. We ran up to some boulders that we couldn't move even with our winches. That's when I tried to sign-up at an blaster school to get a license to use explosives. I even contacted the all the CA agencies to do it properly. No go . . . Why? They sent a Fish & Game Captain out to my place of business to "investigate" me. Bottom-line . . . he told me, point blank, that there was "no way in God's green earth" that I was going to blow up any boulders within "His river". I gave up, and he probably saved my life. Looking back, I no longer blame him. But, the CA's Fish & Game's attitude is still the same, if not worse. They, not the citizen's, own the riverways. Protect? Yes, please do so. But, if you think you own them, then do something to clean them up.

I live very near to over 3,000 acres of bucket-line dredged acreage that is so contaminated that the only thing they could think of doing with it was to allow Aerojet General to build (and test) the Apollo rocket engines. Thus, further contaminating the environment. No one explores our mining history any more. Now they have allowed land development in that area and have built homes there. How? The developer had to put in an immense water tower to provide clean water for the residents. Nice, I guess. But, how do you control wind pollution?

God bless, California and our bureaucrats! This "Green" state needs all the help we can get.

Please excuse my rant down memory lane. But, it's all true.

Peace and health,
James

 

[goldshark]

Safer then a retort, is to squeeze the Mercury through a good Chamois. Use a little Nitric/water, to dissolve the little bit of Mercury. To clean the Nitric, put a Copper strip in the solution to cement out the Mercury. Wipe the Copper strip with a paper towel to remove cemented Mercury. Store strip and Mercury under water, till next project. All this is performed in a containment area. A retort is too complicated for the average beginner.

 

[4metals]

Safer then a retort, is to squeeze the Mercury through a good Chamois.

I always squeezed the amalgam ball of gold and mercury through a chamois. This effectively removes 90% of the mercury which is good as it comes out of the chamois for re-use.

I have only used a retort while dredging in South America and at the end of my stay the dewar of mercury we started with still weighed in at 20 pounds. So we didn't spill or lose any.

The nitric dissolve followed by cementation on copper sounds good but I hazard a guess that the paper towels with mercury in it may be too tempting to end up in the trash. Out of sight, out of mind.

Over-all, with the wisdom of 35 years since I did this in South America, I would still argue to avoid the mercury if possible.

A trick I learned from smaller prospectors while in S.A. was to take the small ball of gold with the amalgam squeezed through the chamois and cut a potato in half and hollow out a small cavity for the gold ball. Cover the potato with tin foil and throw it on top of a camp fire. The mercury is collected in the potato and the ball of gold has no mercury. The down side to this is that mercury contaminated spud may be lethal to some indigenous animal that happens along thinking it found an easy dinner.

 

[Shark]

A retort is too complicated for the average beginner.

I don’t know that the method is that complicated, but I have met a few people that just wasn’t capable of following directions very well. Even written, well explained directions can be pretty problematic at times for a good many people.

I would never suggest mercury as a means to collect gold out in the field, but knowing how to collect and properly dispose of it wouldn’t be a bad idea.

 

[eaglekeeper]

As Goldshark suggested.....

 

[goldshark]

I don’t know that the method is that complicated, but I have met a few people that just wasn’t capable of following directions very well. Even written, well explained directions can be pretty problematic at times for a good many people.

I would never suggest mercury as a means to collect gold out in the field, but knowing how to collect and properly dispose of it wouldn’t be a bad idea.

There are a lot of people who can't chew bubble gum and walk at the same time, who want to be Gold miners. It is this mentality that leads to the irresponsible use of not just Mercury, but any kind of chemical for sale to the public today. A prime example is Roundup, and other like chemicals, invading our food and water supply. We are becoming the polluters to the next generations. It just takes a matter of perspective.
The amount of Mercury used today for mining, pales in comparison to the other ways Mercury is put back into the environment. At least in the US any way. More Mercury could be recovered, via dredging, improving all aspects of qualities for fish, water, human consumption of fish, etc.
Knowing how to use it, is imperative, if you are going to use it. It will not disappear off the planet if you keep "disposing of it properly". You are only dumping it on some other place, or person.

 

[goldshark]

As Goldshark suggested.....

I really like Cody's videos. They are short, informative, and to the point. He should be another GRF shout out person, such as Sreetips on the refining side, and kinda sorta Jason, from MBMM. Cody at least explains things on the chemical reaction side of things, where as Jason gives the basics, but doesn't know how to hammer the nail with just one hit.