motoman6669
New Member
- Joined
- May 17, 2010
- Messages
- 7
i have a bunch of little flakes of gold that i have found in colorado i want to make one little nug out of it any ideas ?
But don't inhale the vapors. You can use quicksilver or mercury to gather up the gold flakes and dust and then burn off the mercury and have the gold left in a ingot.
I think the old timers would place the mercury/gold gatherings in a wet animal skin and then place it in a fire for a short time until the mercury vaporised leaving just the gold.
Of corse today we don't have to use a animal skin but the smelting method remains the same. JUST DON'T INHALE THE VAPORS FROM THE MERCURY!!!
Happy Trails, Woodstock
Gold mining is the second largest source of mercury pollution in the environment after burning fossil fuels. Third world gold miners are using mercury to extract gold from soil and subsoil. Adding mercury to the soil binds the gold in a silver pellet which will be processed later to purify the gold.
Not a New Problem
This is a centuries old practice. Romans used to force slaves and criminals to mine with mercury. The mercury method is fast and cheap, creating a cleaner gold product than panning. With gold at over $1000 an ounce, the poor and the greedy find it difficult to stop gold mining in this way.
Mercury is so toxic even when in contact with skin that many miners are dying early as a result of working conditions. Meanwhile, mercury is accumulating in the food chain, so that families and bystanders are being poisoned as they eat meals and go about their lives.
Read more at Suite101: Mercury Pollution from Gold Mining: Small Scale Miners Use Toxic Chemical to Process Ore http://environmentalism.suite101.com/article.cfm/mercury_pollution_from_gold_mining#ixzz0rmtRz9BY
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28596948/
Mercury is probably the most toxic non-radioactive metal in the environment. It is a poison! It is highly toxic to humans and ANY AMOUNT is harmful to the cells and tissues of human beings, according to Roy B. Kupsinel, MD, author of A Patient’s Guide to Mercury-Amalgam Toxicity – A Major Common Denominator of Degenerative Disease. The World Health Organization declared there is no safe level of mercury for human beings – in other words, mercury is so poisonous that no amount of mercury absorption is safe. (1992). Dental amalgams (fillings) are classified as a hazardous material by OSHA and recommend a “no-touch” technique in handling amalgams. A facemask should be used to avoid breathing amalgam dust, and hazardous waste instructions used for disposal!
http://rinf.com/alt-news/latest-news/removing-mercury-from-the-body-are-you-being-poisoned/1531/