Gold Furnace

A gold furnace was commonly used to separate mercury from gold. In gold placer mining, where small specks and veins of gold were often found in quartz, mercury was used to separate the gold from the quartz through a bond known as amalgam. After processing in the mill and concentrators, the recovered amalgam of mercury and gold was heated to vaporize the mercury and recover the gold. In a small furnace like this, it would take about seven hours for the mercury to vaporize and be recovered, leaving the gold ready to pour into bricks or other desired forms.

Angels, California · United States