What Becomes of our Quicksilver.

Cromwell Argus, Volume IV, Issue 204, 7 October 1873, Page 7

What Becomes of our Quicksilver.

Has it ever struck anyone to inquire what becomes of all the quicksilver brought to this colony, and used in our mining industries I If not, it is a matter worthy of receiving the attention of some of our scientists. Quicksilver in large quantities is constantly being brought into the colony, and not an ounce is ever sent away. After it has been used in amalgamating the precious metals contained in the ores operated upon, it is separated from the metals with which it is combined by retorting, and is again used in the amalgamating pans. Thus it is used over and over again until it has disappeared. Whether it floats away with the water used in amalgamating or is lost by evaporation, there must be vast quantities collecting somewhere, as it is a metal not easily destroyed. In case it is lost by evaporation, it must condense and fall somewhere near the works in which it is used ; and if it floats away in the water it must eventually find a resting-place on the bottom of the stream on which it is floated away. It is an axiom among millmen, “wherever quicksilver is lost, silver is lost therefore there must be a great amount of silver lost. The quantity of quicksilver distributed monthly among the mills, and used by alluvial claim holders, shows how much is lost. None is sold or sent out with the bullion ; therefore, if there was no loss, the mills would never want any more quicksilver than enough to give them a start at first, as the same lot could be used over and over ad infinitum. But there is a loss, and a very large one, as is exactly shown by the demand for quicksilver, as it all goes to supplv the place of that which is lost.— Auckland Weekly Herald.