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Today I put a WTB ad on the local craigslist to buy gold mining stuff. Looking for sluices, riffles, dredge, trommel, etc. Within a half hour a guy called, so I went over to see what he had.

He had a home-built dry washer in fair condition, some gold pans and a nalgene bottle with some mercury.

I passed on the dry washer and offered $10 for 3 of the gold pans, he took it. Then I asked about the mercury. He pulled it out, the weight unknown. I said I have no idea of the value, he said he got it in an auction lot with the other stuff and didn't know either. I offered him $11, all I had in my wallet. He took it.

I get home and look up the current price of mercury. Its $1,850 per 76-lb flask. I weighed the bottle and its at 5 lbs 6 oz. I guess the sturdy plastic bottle could weigh about 6 oz; so I got roughly 5 pounds of Hg for $11.00.

Value $121.70. Not bad.

I have some old mercury switches around here, just don't know of a way to scrap them no buyers that I can find, and don't think I could ship them out...

Am I the only one reading this, and asking myself why would you ever want to bring that much mercury into your home?

JobIII wrote:Am I the only one reading this, and asking myself why would you ever want to bring that much mercury into your home?

Its resting safely in an out-building shed. It certainly does not belong in the house.

hobo finds wrote:I have some old mercury switches around here, just don't know of a way to scrap them no buyers that I can find, and don't think I could ship them out...

What kind of switches are they? What were they used for? How big are they? Pics? Specs?

There is a lot of room in my bottle for more mercury.

I have to find them in the shed LOL! But they are some kind of thermostat switch with the glass bulb full of Mercury I think I have 5 or 6 of them. I wonder what the laws are on shipping the stuff?

I think we are discovering the secret ingredient IC's his beef jerky!

i think the mercury score is great!...but even more admirable is you're the kinda guy in the market for sluices and riffles...i got some of the crew back in the Great White North scheming and dreaming about staking a claim in Alaska, and doing some sluicing.

nice job...stupid question, any Au in ID?

Be careful with mercury,too many bad things can happen with that stuff.If you remember what happened a few years ago in Boise,someone dropped a merc thermometer in their driveway and it cost upwards of 100,00.00 to hav it cleaned up by hazmat and they didn't have a choice either.

silverchip wrote:Be careful with mercury,too many bad things can happen with that stuff.If you remember what happened a few years ago in Boise,someone dropped a merc thermometer in their driveway and it cost upwards of 100,00.00 to hav it cleaned up by hazmat and they didn't have a choice either.

If you happen to spill a couple drops, remember the 3 monkeys.

A turkey baster is MUCH cheaper than a hazmat crew!

Neil - There was a significant gold rush in Idaho in 1860 that lasted almost a decade. There is lots of gold left in ID.

Another guy called on my ad. He has a very nice trommel. It is larger than I need just yet, it can process 5-7 yards per hour and needs to be fed with a small loader, like a Bobcat. He wants $5000 for it. He also has a small high-banker that I could buy, but I want to see what other responses I get to the ad.

silverchip wrote:Be careful with mercury,too many bad things can happen with that stuff.If you remember what happened a few years ago in Boise,someone dropped a merc thermometer in their driveway and it cost upwards of 100,00.00 to hav it cleaned up by hazmat and they didn't have a choice either.

Thanks. I'm well aware of how dangerous a mercury spill can be. Also how much hassle the .gov can be. I can keep the stuff quite safe.

IdahoCopper wrote:Neil - There was a significant gold rush in Idaho in 1860 that lasted almost a decade. There is lots of gold left in ID.

Another guy called on my ad. He has a very nice trommel. It is larger than I need just yet, it can process 5-7 yards per hour and needs to be fed with a small loader, like a Bobcat. He wants $5000 for it. He also has a small high-banker that I could buy, but I want to see what other responses I get to the ad.

I can see you now,gonna be the Rookie on "Gold Diggers" next week!!!!LOL

silverchip wrote:

IdahoCopper wrote:Neil - There was a significant gold rush in Idaho in 1860 that lasted almost a decade. There is lots of gold left in ID.

Another guy called on my ad. He has a very nice trommel. It is larger than I need just yet, it can process 5-7 yards per hour and needs to be fed with a small loader, like a Bobcat. He wants $5000 for it. He also has a small high-banker that I could buy, but I want to see what other responses I get to the ad.

I can see you now,gonna be the Rookie on "Gold Diggers" next week!!!!LOL

Thanks a lot, Dave. I think I'll stay out of the limelight for now.


Hey Neil - There are beaches in Equador with gold, similar to Nome, AK. Except they got palm trees and palapas instead of snow and ice.