Anyone know anything about gold that is still part silver?

[G0lddigg@]

Hey guys I've got a spot in Ballarat and another in Creswick which produce the odd silver/gold nugget well nuggety alluvial anyway. I cant remember if i read or if someone told me that this is likely fresh gold coming out of an old lead. Anyone know anything about it? or has come across it a bit?
I cant seem to find any reference to it online, the spot in Ballarat produces probably 30% silver to gold capture in the cons bit annoying to pick it all out for sale.

 

[richo966]

most gold has other metals in it gold in Victoria is very good purity you can have a lot of different metals when you refine it you will separate them hope this helps

 

[joe]

Could be mercury mate,If it is it should burn off quite easy of course too much of it (could be quite toxic) so dont do it in enclosed environment.

 

[Guest]

Yeah looks like mercury to me too, Its stick onto the gold.

 

[G0lddigg@]

doesnt look like mercury its quite silver the first time I took some nuggets like tgis to my gold buyer he also said they were silver. I wonder if thrre is s simple test I can do

 

[Diggerdude]

Definatley not silver, nuggets don't form half half like that. I agree with the other guys, its mercury.

DD

 

[Ozjono]

It's 100% mercury a lot off the gold I use to find was the same,

I use to burn it off but other members gave me a bit of insite to the risks ,

But if you want to find out get a piece with some metal twisters and run it though a flame and it will be as good as new,

Before you do this you may want to look up mercury on wiki or the like

Nice looking good tho

 

[Golden Tiger]

As the other members have said it is mercury. A lot of the gold I find at Warrandyte has traces of mercury. Try not to handle it too much and when storing it make sure it is in water.

 

[calala]

If anybody breathes in the fumes, burning it off they will be history, "DON'T BURN IT OFF"

 

[Goldrocs]

A lot of the guys say it is mercury if it is use the old potato method to burn it off
Cut a potato in half cut a notch in one half place nugget in the notch place the two halfs
Together wrap in foil and place into hot fire....

 

[G0lddigg@]

Ok thanks heaaaaps for the advice guys......
I could not be more happy to have been wrong in my life, after reading the above i remembered at one point i used to keep all these so called bits of silver so i did a bit of digging and found a little vial. after doing some serious googling to find a safe way to burn off the mercury i settled on the below apparatus and tested away. Its worth noting its very windy today and i moved away form the area i was buring off as soon as the gas was lit and I was wearing a chemical filter mask.

I think the pictures speak for themselves long story short I know a place where there's plenty of this stuff and cant wait for the rain to slow down so i can get in there

Test 1

results

test 2
(i knew there was quite a bit of fine gold in here but i was unable to pan it out its been driving me nuts

results

without cleaning out that last batch i would say i recovered about 2 grams so very happy

 

[calala]

Sorry but I totally disagree with doing that it is called pollution, it should be retrieved correctly in a retort. This is a public forum, the greens could have a field day with that comment!

 

[TheSilentBugler]

Mercury is toxic, but at such a small scale I see no problems, don't handle it, or breathe in the vapour and you're golden, so to speak.

 

[G0lddigg@]

Sorry but I totally disagree with doing that it is called pollution, it should be retrieved correctly in a retort. This is a public forum, the greens could have a field day with that comment!

i hear you mate, and i'm all for saving a tree the reality is coal mining burns of masses of tons of mercury into the atmosphere every day and we put the pressure on them to produce and as such we all contribute like it or not. I really think the Greens will be busy takling the real issues like where we produce our electricity not whats said here.
IN saying that Pollution is an everyday part of our lives, you pollute when you use deodorant, when you wash your hair and when you start your car every day, in the greater scheme of things ive probably contributed about the amount of pollution as driving my car to the shops instead of walking. I hear your opinion and value it but lets not turn The Prospecting Australia forum into a environmental impact debate.

 

[Twoopi]

Sorry but I totally disagree with doing that it is called pollution, it should be retrieved correctly in a retort. This is a public forum, the greens could have a field day with that comment!

With the very small scale he was doing it on, I dont see any problems with it. As long as he's protected and there's no one else within a few meters, diffusion takes care of the rest. The amount he was doing would diffuse to be completely harmless within a few meters. There's mercury in the air from industrial pollution as it is, it's like a drop in the ocean. The PPM of mercury in the air needs to be relatively high to pose any risk.

Don't forget, mercury's found in coal, too. How much of that is burnt off into the air each day?

 

[calala]

I believe the photos and comments should be removed as they are inappropriate. How much is not much, 1+ 1 = 2 and so on.

 

[joe]

Well done G0lddigg@,color has changed in your favor now you can tell your buyer that you no longer collect silver nuggets.

 

[G0lddigg@]

Well done G0lddigg@,color has changed in your favor now you can tell your buyer that you no longer collect silver nuggets.

thanks Joe - cant wait to show him these pictures

 

[joe]

Well done G0lddigg@,color has changed in your favor now you can tell your buyer that you no longer collect silver nuggets.

thanks Joe - cant wait to show him these pictures

And ask for a refund lol

 

[G0lddigg@]

Well done G0lddigg@,color has changed in your favor now you can tell your buyer that you no longer collect silver nuggets.

thanks Joe - cant wait to show him these pictures

And ask for a refund lol

i don't like my chances