201 responses to “Sandbox – 8oct15”

1. 

   Bill Tozer

   13 October 2015

   As far as Mercury does, I dredged a lot with a small 4 inch suction dredge. Used a 5″ when I upgraded. It was my only source of livihood for a couple of years. A river rat I wad. Sure, in the old days they dumped barrels of quick silver down those long long wooden sluice boxes that only caught the big pieces and most of the fines and gold ran out the end. My little holes I dredged were smaller than the boulders rolling down the undamed rivers during the winter storms in those gorges. Boulders the size of Volkswagon Buses crashing down the river in those storms. Couldn’t find my holes if I tried the next year. Washed away or filled with rock.
   I have pulled out a lot more Chinese coins and old lead fishing weights and buckshot than any Mercury I dredged up. Mercury adheres to the fine clean gold and, yes, there were a few beads of the stuff at the end of the season I walked out. Took an old cast iron frying pan, put the droplets of Mercury in it, held it over a campfire, held my breath, and Pesto!, it burned off into vapor in 3 seconds, leaving the fines behind. There are silver droplets in them thar hills, but a suction dredge is no match for nature’s winters fury. Besides, the miner carries the lead and mercury out of the river, while your ilk dumps bullshit all over the place, IMHO.

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