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Author Topic: Retort?  (Read 1115 times)

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Offline maddmaxx

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Retort?
« on: July 23, 2004, 04:48:49 AM »
Ran accross a line about how the '49ers processed their gold. ..."retorted it in a potato."    --Just exactly what the heck does that mean???
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Offline Daveinthebush

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Retort in a Potato
« Reply #1 on: August 02, 2004, 08:58:24 PM »
Not going into detail.  But the amalgam was placed in a cutout in a potato and then baked in several layers of aluminum foil for about 45 minutes.  The mercury evaporates and is absorbed by the potato leaving the pure gold.

Warning: Any work involving the use of mercury can cause death as the fumes are deadly!!!
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Offline maddmaxx

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retort
« Reply #2 on: August 04, 2004, 02:57:47 PM »
Well, thanks . I've always wondered about that. Did they have a way of reclaiming the mercury, or was it continually used up? (Hope no one ate the tater.)
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Offline Daveinthebush

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Potato
« Reply #3 on: August 04, 2004, 03:00:29 PM »
That would be one deadly potato!
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Offline onecoyote

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Retort?
« Reply #4 on: March 10, 2006, 12:47:06 PM »
The answer was right about the potato. I just don't know if the 49ers had aluminum foil at the time?
I don't believe the 49ers cared that much about reclaming the mercury. Hell, you can still find it in most of the streams in California gold country. I bought a retort years ago, used it for a couple years and had to have all my teeth pulled, I wonder? :roll:
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