Cast iron mercury bucket, used to hold mercury, potentially in the process of recovering minute pieces of gold mixed in soil and sediments. See research page for description of one process of using mercury to extract gold.gold mines, mining equipment, mercury bucket, miners used mercury in a number of ways to amalgamate gold, with each mill or battery operator having their preferred method depending on the nature of the ore. by the late 1850s the most common way of crushing goldbearing quartz ores or consolidated alluvial cements was in a stamp battery. the battery featured heavy iron stamp heads held in a frame, with each head often weighing up to 500 pounds (226 kg) or more (see msv 1880, page 45) (birrell 2005). stamp heads were lifted and dropped by a rotating overhead cam shaft driven by a steam engine or water wheel. ore was fed into a large cast-iron battery box, mixed with a steady stream of water, and pulverised by the stamp heads. in some batteries, mercury was placed in the base of the boxes to amalgamate with freed gold. the violent agitation of the mercury in the mortar box, however, could cause the mercury to break into myriad tiny globules that were carried away by the water with the tailings, thus losing a certain amount of gold in the process (thompson 1867; ritchie & hooker 1997). the water and sand slurry was splashed by the falling stamps from the box through fine mesh screens and onto inclined wooden tables below the mortar box (figure 2). the tables were covered with copper sheets or plates coated with mercury, which caught and amalgamated with a portion of the gold. the grey putty-like amalgam was periodically scraped off the sheets and retorted in a furnace to collect the gold and recover the mercury for reuse. mercury was inevitably lost from the plates, while poor maintenance resulted in further losses of gold and mercury in the tailings. mercury use and loss from gold mining in 19th century victoria. peter davies1, susan lawrence, and jodi turnbull, department of archaeology and history, la trobe university.

Diggers & Mining. Getting the Gold. Slide: This picture of a creek at Ballarat (1854) shows some of these new methods in operation. Markings: 45 994.LIF:4. Used as a teaching aid.hanimounteducation, tertiary, goldfields

Diggers & Mining. The gold licence. The Government Camp. Between 1851 and 1854, there was continual unrest on nearly all of the Victorian diggings, due chiefly to the licence system and the repressive methods of its enforcement (though there were other causes - see Unit 8). The diggers held protest meetings; they formed diggers' associations; they sent petitions to the government. At times, serious rioting threatened - as at Bendigo in 1853. But the Legislative Council continued the system; Markings: 37 994.LIF. 4. Used as a teaching aid.hanimounteducation, tertiary, goldfields

Diggers & Mining. The gold licence. The Government Camp. The licence system aroused much hostility among the diggers. They objected to the principle of the fee - a tax on their labour levied by a government in which they were not represented. They objected to the incidence of the tax, which bore equally on the fortunate diggers who could afford it, and the large number of unfortunate diggers who could not. But the most objectionable feature of the licence system way the method by which, on most fields, it was generally enforced. Markings: 34 994.LIF. 4. Used as a teaching aid.hanimounteducation, tertiary, goldfields

Diggers & Mining: Diggers & Mining. Slide reads; Working from very imperfect records, all we can say is that, from 1851 to 1858, while new fields were being discovered, and much gold was to be obtained by primitive methods, the number of independent digger grew rapidly (though in the latter years of this period the average earnings per digger was falling rapidly). There were certainly over 100, 000 diggers in Victoria in 1858. Markings: 51/ 994:LIF 1. Used as a teaching aid.hanimounteducation, tertiary, mining

Blue handwritten one page document detailing 'Youngman & Harrisons Patent Basin for pulverizing quartz tailings and amalgamating fine gold with mercury'. Introductory comments the basin contains greater advantages for pulverizing quartz tailings & amalgamating than any yet constructed for that purpose; In its construction all machinery complications have been carefully avoided and yet it embodies all the best methods known for treating tailings and has besides other than advantages (both in cash and labour) that of treating puddling machine sludge and can be used as a concentrator with little or no extra expense.bendigo, mining, youngman & harrisons patent basin

BHS CollectionDiggers & mining. The gold era. Better methods of treatment were adopted. Horses were used for puddling, - - - Markings 20 994.031 GOL:5. Used as a teaching aid.hanimounteducation, tertiary, goldfields