# Using Mercury to capture gold



## sandhog (Mar 8, 2007)

I wanted to know if anyone is using Mercury to capture gold from their solutions. I know this is probably not a common practice here but I have a pretty good quantity of mercury and if I understand it's characteristics correctly it is reusable. Any thoughts or info would be great.

-Bill


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## lazersteve (Mar 8, 2007)

Bill,

It is possible, but I've never done it.




The main reason for me not even considering doing it are the hazards associated with mercury. Mercury (Hg) is a deadly poison. I have read about the process and it involves heating the mercury and gold together. This action produces a very hazardous form of vaporized Hg which is not to be fouled around with. I would strongly advise against the use of Hg in your refining efforts.



Just my friendly advice.

Steve


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## socorban (Mar 8, 2007)

I 2nd that big time, no gold is worth your life, mercury is very dangerous and should not be used by anyone who has not been trained to use it.

Its use is in the process of being cut down due to death rates and hazards involved with using it. even in open areas with ventilation you can still be poisened even killed by it, is a grams or two of gold worth your life?


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## sandhog (Mar 8, 2007)

Nope, not worth my life. The method I was reading about involves extracting the gold from the mercury by using a syringe and putting cotton balls inside of it. Pushing down on the plunger...out comes clean mercury and the gold is trapped in the cotton. I was under the impression that gold and mercury naturally will adhere to each other. Does this sound correct?

Here's a link the site:
http://www.prospectorsparadise.com/html/mercury.html

-Bill


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## Noxx (Mar 8, 2007)

I tried once last year at my school with a Chemist.
But we ended up with something that wasn't gold :roll:


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## Harold_V (Mar 9, 2007)

sandhog said:


> Nope, not worth my life. The method I was reading about involves extracting the gold from the mercury by using a syringe and putting cotton balls inside of it. Pushing down on the plunger...out comes clean mercury and the gold is trapped in the cotton. I was under the impression that gold and mercury naturally will adhere to each other. Does this sound correct?



The best way to understand this is to consider dental amalgam. 

Mercury is a strong solvent of both silver and gold. Gold that is introduced to mercury quickly is coated, but it doesn't stop there. The mercury has the capacity to absorb something like 18% of its volume in gold, so, in a sense, the mercury would hold some of your gold captive, and would do so until it became a solid, much like a filling. You get the mercury back by retorting-----which can be safely done---but can also be deadly. I'm not up to speed on the current legality of retorting mercury, but I did a great deal of it years ago, reclaiming silver from dental amalgam. 

For your information----mercury is not used to recover gold from solutions. There are many reagents that will do that without contaminating the gold----so even if it would work (and it probably would), it wouldn't be a smart thing to do. 

Harold


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## jmelson (Mar 9, 2007)

sandhog said:


> I wanted to know if anyone is using Mercury to capture gold from their solutions. I know this is probably not a common practice here but I have a pretty good quantity of mercury and if I understand it's characteristics correctly it is reusable. Any thoughts or info would be great.
> 
> -Bill


Hey, we are accustomed to using really dangerous stuff in this art. Cyanide, Aqua Regia and lead are child's play compared to mercury! Don't even think of using it, as the way you get the gold and the mercury to separate is to BOIL the mercury off! I can't imagine a more dangeous approach!

If you still think about it, check out the story of the kids who broke a water-bath thermometer (contains maybe 8 Oz of Hg) in their parent's homes. Two family homes were knocked down by the EPA, and the families were billed something like $2 million EACH for the hazmat cleanup and disposal! You want some guys with bulldozers knocking your house down and then billing you to have it buried somewhere?

Jon


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## sandhog (Mar 9, 2007)

I'm not gonna use it. Thank you all for your concern and warnings. I hope everyone understands that lead and lead vapors are very dangerous also!  You will get just as sick if you are poisoned by Lead. 

I agree with everyone here, lets all use care when handling these metals and the chemicals.


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## Anonymous (Mar 16, 2007)

There are other chemistry sane ways of separating the two besides boiling off Hg, Jon. I hate all hysteria about Hg, and partial information even worse.


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## lazersteve (Mar 16, 2007)

Welcome to the forum Sue,

I couldn't help but notice your strong feelings about the use of Hg. Please share your knowledge on the subject with the forum. I for one am very interested in what you have to say. I'm always open to new ideas.

Thank you for the post.

Steve


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## Anonymous (Mar 17, 2007)

Mercury is a metal. Just another one, God made. It exists as a solid, a liquid or a gas.

=============================
Chemistry is about logic not hysteria. Whenever I see hysterical reactions about any substance, I know I'm not talking to logical thinkers or chemists which is fine. Even chemists weren't chemists once upon a time.  Doesn't explain the lack of logic on non-chemists' parts.

Getting hysterical over mercury is illogical. That's what environuts have done to chemistry. Makes me see red. 

Mercury is a fascinating topic. Would you believe the major giant telescopic mirrors in Palo Alto are composed of pools if absolutely pure, perfectly level, unmoveable Hg? Someone human has to take care of 
them, and they don't dress up in hazmat suits when they do so.

P.S.
ALSO, MERCURY DOES NOT DIGEST ANY METAL, Harold. Sorry, but that is a stubborn myth that was disproven about 50 years ago. Scientifically!
Like chicken and the egg---that is an old debate that I see is still alive and kicking. 

Strange what survives and what AND who the environuts infect with their infectious hysteria routine.

a man named Sue


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## Anonymous (Mar 17, 2007)

sandhog said:


> I wanted to know if anyone is using Mercury to capture gold from their solutions. I know this is probably not a common practice here but I have a pretty good quantity of mercury and if I understand it's characteristics correctly it is reusable. Any thoughts or info would be great.
> 
> -Bill



Sandhog, your answer is this: adding the metal Mercury to an acidic solution which dissolves the Hg. is adding either a benefit or a contaminant. It depends upon the solution.

Reducing Hg by acid digestion to ITS ionic form in a solution in which there are other metal ions present does not aid the precipitation of the desired prior metal by ionic exchange with the Hg ions. 

Hg in its non-dissolved state works best with metals which are also not dissolved state. Gold is just one of them.

Many metals hang out with Gold in the real world. Copper. Iron. Arsenic. Antimony. Lead. Silver, just to name a few.

Spend some time on Google learning to understand what an Ion is, and what a metallic particle is, their similarities and their differences. Then you will be scientifically informed and subjected less to hysteria.


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## Harold_V (Mar 17, 2007)

Sue said:


> Mercury is a metal. ALSO, MERCURY DOES NOT DIGEST ANY METAL, Harold.



Perhaps you can offer an explanation of the amalgamation process that excludes the solution of the involved elements. 



> Sorry, but that is a stubborn myth that was disproven about 50 years ago. Scientifically!



Cites, please! I'm not convinced. 



> Like chicken and the egg---that is an old debate that I see is still alive and kicking.



Perhaps because it deserves life?



> Strange what survives and what AND who the environuts infect with their infectious hysteria routine.



Indeed! And that can also be said about those that refuse to see the light of opposing views.

Harold


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## sandhog (Mar 17, 2007)

Thank you for your input on this "controversial" subject sue. I think my first question was stated wrong. I wanted to reverse electroplate the gold and then dilute and filter this solution. After that I wanted to see if just rolling some mercury on these filters would pick up the gold. Once the mercury is saturated I wanted to try and filter out the gold by putting some cotton in a syringe and squeezing the mercury out the other side. I wanted to use this method because I don't feel comfortable retorting mercury at this time.

P.S.

Don't we use Mercurochrome(mercury) on wounds. 
I'm probably already have mercury poisoning anyway I eat about 5 cans of Tuna a week :lol:


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## sandhog (Mar 17, 2007)

Sue,

I think everyone on this forum is very helpful and most importantly concerned about each others safety. So, I just wanted to say that I appreciate your statements about this topic but I also appreciate the concerns for mine and others personal safety. 

Thank you all!

-Bill


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## Anonymous (Mar 17, 2007)

sandhog said:


> P.S.
> 
> Don't we use Mercurochrome(mercury) on wounds.
> I'm probably already have mercury poisoning anyway I eat about 5 cans of Tuna a week :lol:



====================
As a kid I ALWAYS chose Merrochrome over Merthiolate, because it stung less and my Mom always made faces with the glass wand and the red antiseptic.  
====================

Yes, safety is important. I like those who practice responsible safety in their everyday life, and not just on special projects. The only way to get to safety is to get to the information first.

To answer your follow-up question...if you've done your personal homework, you will now know if the impure gold on your filterpaper is metallic gold or ionic gold. 

You'll also learn to clean and recharge your mercury by studying this subject. 

Sounds like you have the makings of a fine scientific experimental approach, whose outcome will either prove or disprove your hypothesis.

As I said earlier, there is science and there are anecdotal experience sharing, and there are opinions. Some of us guys would never have been permitted to play football if cautious worry wort Mom had her way. :? 

A man named Sue


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## lazersteve (Mar 17, 2007)

Sue, 

I can see that you are a very passionate person. That is a great trait.

I for one am not in fear or hysterics of any chemical element or compound. I am cautious and aware of what others may do with the obviously toxic substances either intentionally or unintentionally. You are correct in that any substance is safe when handled properly. That is indeed the catch here.

I'm not a tree hugging environmentalist, but I don't want our children to grow up in world more polluted than the one that I had to grow up in. For this reason I will not advise others to use these type of chemicals just because they are readily available as in Sandhog's case with the mercury, or just because they are facinating. I for one know many other more mundane ways to recovery and purify gold without putting my life or his in too much danger. I would much rather help him learn these safer, yet not without danger, methods-- The lesser of two evils if you will.

I don't think that anyone replying to this topic intended on jumping Sandhog about mercury, more than likely we all just wanted him to be aware of the risks associated with mercury if not properly handled. In your example of Pepto-Bismol, try drinking a bottle of liquid mercury and see if you still think metals should not be duely respected. The point is that all chemicals should be handled with the proper precautions for each. 

In closing, I for one would like to know the real answer to Sandhog's question. Please reference, explain, or provide a demonstration of the process of using mercury to purify gold. I'm pretty sure that it happens everyday somewhere in the world. I have never had the privilage of knowing what the exact process is. You obviously have a good grasp on Chemistry. I sincerely feel you may have the final answer to the question. Put aside your emotions about the previous posts and please share with us your knowledge on the chemistry of gold and mercury. 

Here's one link that I found with very little effort:

http://www.blm.gov/education/going_4_the_gold/mining.html

It is superficial, but explains the overall process. 

It would be a great contribution to the forum to have a tutorial for this process.

Great post! Keep up the good work.

Steve


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## AgAuPtRh (Mar 18, 2007)

Sandhog,

There are numerous folks employing Mercury to capture Gold. If I can find it, I have a CD of a guy down in So. Cal. who uses Mercury on Black Sands.

The basic idea is that he captures deposits of Black Sands on a sluice. Uses a magnet to remove the iron deposits then recovers the gold from the left overs using mercury.

He puts his black sand deposits in a rock tumbler--adds a little mercury at a time until it has captured all the Gold it can. 

He then uses a syringe type tool to force the mercury through a filter--the gold is inside the syringe. 

Most of the people I have seen that work with Mercury use a tumbler of some sort. 

Like some have said here it is pretty dangerous. Mercury evaporates at room temperature. 

Because there are so many ways to recover precious metals that are easier and safer and purify the metals----(Mercury doesn't purify the gold it captures)----the happy weekend warrior gold hounds are avoiding Mercury. 

I'm going to look for the CD I mentioned above. If I find it Sandhog---I'll let you know. Just don't hold your breath because it might have been discarded sometime back when I relocated.


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## lazersteve (Mar 18, 2007)

Welcome to the forum and thank you for the great post. This is just the type of stuff I've been looking for, good information that is to the point!


Steve


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## Anonymous (Mar 18, 2007)

lazersteve said:


> Sue,
> 
> 
> In closing, I for one would like to know the real answer to Sandhog's question. Please reference, explain, or provide a demonstration of the process of using mercury to purify gold.
> ...



Lazer, I DID give the real answer to Sandhog's question. Mercury is never used to purify gold. Gather metallic gold particles yes, purify,never. That's the final answer and same one I've already posted.


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## Anonymous (Mar 22, 2007)

The moderator *moved* it to General Chat thread in case anyone is looking for it. Maybe you just never got to see it in the first place. It is not a spoof, but a genuine look at how it is currently being used, and permitted by the government's Geological Department in the nation of Guyana.


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## ChucknC (Mar 22, 2007)

This is an example of what has happened to stigmatize Hg due to the irresponcibility of miners from the 1800's. People today don't understand Hg any better now than then. Hg can be an excellent tool for gold recovery, or it can be a hazard. It all depends on how it is used.

Mercury is not deadly upon simple exposure. It does however pose a problem with CHRONIC exposure to fumes and an extremely severe danger to the organic alcohol methyl mercury. This stuff is extremely toxic. It's also what some habadashers used in making hatbands.(mad as a hatter) That helped to give Hg a bad name. We still use mecurichrome as an antibiotic. During the Civil War it was mixed with honey and called methyl blue as a medicine.

A simple way to store Hg, without it evaporating, is to store it under a weak solution of NaOH. Also, if your working blacksands, add acouple of tablespoons of weak NaOH to tumbler and tumble the blacksands, Hg, and NaOH together. The Hg won't pill as bad, and will recover more gold.

Here is a good article written by Prof. Ken Williams PHD:
http://webpages.charter.net/kwilliams00/bcftp/docs/mercury.htm
He was a character and a good mentor. He was killed in a fall at his home in Coasta Rica back on THanksgiving 2005. I still miss his wit and advice.

In working with anything used to recover and refine precious metals, we work with potentiallly deadly chemicals all the time. It simply comes down to 2 things:
1) Use every safety precaution necessary for your safety(gloves, fume hood, eye protection etc)
2) If you are afraid or unsure of a substance, don't use it. Fear will make someone screw up faster than respect for chemicals.

Chuck


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## toadiesop (Mar 28, 2007)

My mother's boyfriend used to pan in Arizona around the 70's using the exact same method that AgAuPtRh posted.

He was very careful but he said a lot of people weren't. They would just handle the Hg, no gloves, and at the end of the day, they would take their shoes off and dump out the Hg, THAT HAD SEEPED THROUGH THEIR BODY OUT OUT THEIR FEET!!!!

:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: 

This guy is a walking gold encyclopedia. He's old school cycanide/Hg and of course swears by that method, but I can't wait to show him whats possible with all these new fangdangled processes us kids have these days. :lol:


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## Anonymous (Apr 29, 2007)

I don't begin to claim the knowledge the guys on this board have. I have played with small mining for many years. The old timers used mercury to collect the small gold from their pan. They had two major ways of seperating the gold from the mercury. One method was to carefully cut a plug out of a potato, pour in the "Malgum," as they called it, and replace the cone shaped wedge on the potato. It would then be placed in a camp fire. The heat from the fire would heat the mercury and drive it into the potato, leaving the gold. Afte extracting the gold they would squeeze the potato to recover the mercury.

The other method was to squeeze the amalgum through a web chami skin. This they did with their hands.

Keen engineering sells mercury retorts, and, if used properly, are safe. Like working with any reagent, caution is the moto.

I have been around a lot of miners who used mercury. They always ran the retort outside. They also used something, probably what was posted here earlier, to clear the patina from black sands in the tumbler so the mercuty could come in direct contact with the black sands. The black sands were first crushed to about 600 fineness in order for the mercury to work on the small particles of gold that were exposed by the grinding process. Depending on the location, some black sands can be very rich in gold and pgm's.


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## Seamus (Aug 22, 2008)

Thinking of mercury use:
Mercury is a metal that should NOT be used in gold refining by anyone without proper training and safety gear. Please do not let your mercury get over room temp on a cool day and keep it in a sealed container at all times and out of reach from children. Retort mercury outside and down wind from you in a non populated area.
I worked in the medical field and saw mercury poisoning, as well as other poisonings. Gold is a great hobby and an investment to be appreciated by many people. But dead men tell no tails of gold recovery and or refining. I hate to be on my soap box, but please use precaution to live long and prosper in your refining. I would like to hear your grandchildren talk about how you refined PM's safely for many decades. 
This article is just a reminder to anyone thinking of useing mercury, to use extreme precaution with mercury and other chemicals.


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## Anonymous (Aug 23, 2008)

If you still think about it, check out the story of the kids who broke a water-bath thermometer (contains maybe 8 Oz of Hg) in their parent's homes. Two family homes were knocked down by the EPA, and the families were billed something like $2 million EACH for the hazmat cleanup and disposal! You want some guys with bulldozers knocking your house down and then billing you to have it buried somewhere?

Jon[/quote]

I doubt that story could be proven, although if you call the gov for such a thing I guess it could be possilble.

Sound like the new flourescent light story were someone dropped a compact one and ended up spending 2,000 for clean up. We have had flourescent bulbs for many decades the only new part of them is putting a small enough ballast for them to work in place of A19 bulbs, people just throw the old flourescent lighting in the dumpster every day and they get broken, no hazmat, no secret agent, nothing.

Sorry, if I offend as I know that some will be.


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## Oz (Aug 23, 2008)

James you did not offend me at least. The problem is that once EPA gets involved they must go to the extreme to cover their ass. With out going into details I know of situations where tap water is a hazmat. It contains fluoride and chlorine, both hazardous materials. As to cost, you can be sure that if a government agency does something it will always be more expensive than private industry.


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## Absolutsecurity (Aug 23, 2008)

HG is ok to use for collection of gold am PM's if you are educated and carefull!  
It is as safe as the acids and bases we all use maybe safer, because I never heard of anyone lossing an eye due to splashing HG or pulmonary edema from inhalation. You can undergo mercury chelation to remove it from your body if there is a accident - never heard of that with acid burns to the skin or lungs! :shock: 

If you are using HG you need to know how to contain a spill (zinc powder) and how to clean it up - you also have to work with small enough quantities that you arent going to make trouble for yourself and always pour over a catch basin. 

Its basic common sense that 90% of the general population lacks :roll: that is the problem. Dont use it if you havent studied and made your self familiar with it and dont get in over your head PLAIN AND SIMPLE!!!!!!!

BE CAREFUL WITH WHATEVER YOU DO!

Glynn


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## Anonymous (Nov 26, 2008)

I came here to see if I could gather some specifics and see pictures of the tools and processes to process black sands for gold with Hg.

Instead I read a lot of hoopla about how dangerous Hg is. While I recognize that there are some dangers to Hg, it is really being blown out of proportion. Do you realize that more children die each year in the 5 gallon buckets we carry our dirt in than those who succumbed to Hg poisoning?

So let's make the assumption that those who are interested in Hg are also interested in safe practices and give them the whole info enchilada. Don't be cavalier, but don't get the torches either.


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## butcher (Nov 27, 2008)

mercury can eaporate slowly at room temperature for years, if in the rug of a house people can be breathing it,mercury also oxidize's easily, and will not almagam well if not purified first, because it oxidizes easily and has such a low evaporating point should be stored under water in a jar.
and squeezing through a cotton filter or sweezed through a piece of leather does not seperate the gold from the mercury, it only seperate's the almagam from the unalmagamed mercury, and a retort to distill the mercury would be only safe way of recovery,
not the disolving it in nitric acid or the potato method, both very dangerous.
modern mercury retorts can be bought which also have a condenser.
there are many better ways to recover fine gold than mercury.
(although a natural substance in many of or rivers)
why mess with it, it can be dangerous and a pollutant.
I see no gain from using it at all for gold recovery nowadays.

I am not scared of it, but do see its dangers, and do see and hear of people who think they know about it using it dangerously, many third world countrys are poisioning themselves with it to get miniscule amounts of gold.


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## Anonymous (Nov 27, 2008)

Butcher,

Good information. Did you all read that basement chemist link offered above? Also lots of good information.

It is unfortunate that there are morons out there who abuse things or do things that are dangerous to others through their ignorance or indifference. I don't, however, want my freedoms compromised by their shortcomings. That is why I would rather see the whole information provided rather than "just say no."

We can point at people who "use" alcohol, cars, firearms, prescription drugs, etc. poorly, but that does not mean the rest of us should be banned from using them.

That is my point.

Also, minuscule gold is all we have around here. The good thing about mercury is that you can continue to load it, until it is full of gold, before you process it out.


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## Anonymous (Mar 29, 2009)

> The good thing about mercury is that you can continue to load it, until it is full of gold, before you process it out.



the mercury will become oxidized and its effectiveness for amalgamating free gold will drop with successive 'loads'. 

Readers, note again whats been said about mercurys high vapor pressure: it evaporates if open to the air so never (for example) check if your mercury has a smell or something. It should be kept underwater when it is being used because of its insolubility. Any 'tailing' from mercury soaked concentrates or ore is hazardous material and needs to be treated as such.


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## Anonymous (Mar 29, 2009)

dstap said:


> > The good thing about mercury is that you can continue to load it, until it is full of gold, before you process it out.
> 
> 
> 
> the mercury will become oxidized and its effectiveness for amalgamating free gold will drop with successive 'loads'.



How do you tell that Mercury is oxidized? So far mine seems to work, remains the same color and is always stored and worked under water. I also rinse my sands before treatment with clean water before adding the mercury.


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## butcher (Mar 29, 2009)

Safely retorting will eliminate oxides giving a pure mercury condensate that will almagam at its best, leaving behind the gold, some mercury oxide and any other impuritys the mercury picked up, basically you are distilling your mercury.some say should be tripple distilled.


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