What is this sandy mix of gold/amalgum/brown?

[carcrossguy]

I magnified this and there is a lot of gold but also gold/mercury amalgam and also some brown stuff. It's all sandy in texture. been sitting around 40 yrs so dont know what it is.

 

[carcrossguy]

this is it

 

[Claudie]

Pictures aren't showing up for me.

 

[shaftsinkerawc]

What kind of container was it in? Was it all stuck together? There's some golden color in there, have you panned or tried to seperate any? Have you tried to crush any of the golden color pieces?

 

[carcrossguy]

It was some kind of attempt to use mercury to get gold from black sand. The lid of the container had rusted but there are veins of rust as if iron was used in the gold extraction process. There seems to be a lot of very fine black sand as well.

If I heat it up should that evaporate most of the mercury? Im 50 yrs old so not to worried about the longterm effects of mercury poisoning.

 

[nickvc]

It was some kind of attempt to use mercury to get gold from black sand. The lid of the container had rusted but there are veins of rust as if iron was used in the gold extraction process. There seems to be a lot of very fine black sand as well.

If I heat it up should that evaporate most of the mercury? Im 50 yrs old so not to worried about the longterm effects of mercury poisoning.

Bad attitude man that stuffs not to be messed with....read up on the effects of mercury poisoning and while you might not care I'm sure the others around you might!

 

[Oz]

Im 50 yrs old so not to worried about the longterm effects of mercury poisoning.

The effects of heating up raw mining concentrates mixed with mercury can be short term fatal. There are nasties in ore (not counting the mercury) that are toxic. There could be good reasons the progress on this material was halted. What did the previous owner die of?

 

[carcrossguy]

Im 50 yrs old so not to worried about the longterm effects of mercury poisoning.

The effects of heating up raw mining concentrates mixed with mercury can be short term fatal. There are nasties in ore (not counting the mercury) that are toxic. There could be good reasons the progress on this material was halted. What did the previous owner die of?

Leukemia at 50. He also worked with uranium though. He was a geologist.

 

[qst42know]

Leukemia has been attributed to mercury poisoning.

 

[nickvc]

Please bear in mind that we are an open forum with members of all ages and with many whose first language isn't English. We don't want anyone hurting themselves their neighbours or the environoment and we take the safety of others before the recovery or refining of any precious metals. We have 14 year old members and many whose grasp of English is tenuous so please refrain from posting dangerous ideas. If you wish to carry on with your dangerous thoughts in regards to your material please don't post them because I for one really do not wish to have someones death on my conscience....Do you?

 

[Harold_V]

If I heat it up should that evaporate most of the mercury? Im 50 yrs old so not to worried about the longterm effects of mercury poisoning.

BLINK! BLINK! :shock:
Would you please say that again? I think the sun was in my ears and I couldn't hear you well.

You're not "to(sp) worried about the long term effects of mercury poisoning?"

You damned well should be. Right along with some of the other elements that may be there to make your life one miserable existence.

There is no need to take any chances. Even if there's mercury present, there are ways to deal with it such that you are safe. Until you know and understand what you're doing, my advice to you is to do nothing. Research until you understand the issues well. That's especially true if you have values and hope to make a recovery. Do not do as many here have--plunge in with both feet not knowing their foot from their elbow, then come to the forum whining because you're not experiencing what you hope to achieve.

Look at this project the same way you'd look at learning to play a musical instrument. You must put in a given amount of time learning before you can expect success. You may also insure that your remaining years will be spent in health, instead of breathing and being fed from tubes.

Harold