Working Principle

Taking advantage of the fact that mercury’s vaporization temperature is much lower than gold’s melting and boiling points, solid amalgam is placed in a sealed distillation tank and heated. When the temperature rises to 356°C, mercury in the amalgam vaporizes. The vapor is then cooled by the condensation system and recovered in liquid form, achieving effective separation of mercury and gold.

Structural Components

• The distillation tank holds the amalgam;
• The heater can be powered by coke, gas or electric furnace, providing the required heat for mercury distillation;
• The condenser tube cools the vaporized mercury into liquid state;
• The collection container stores the condensed liquid mercury.

Operation Method

1. Mix talcum powder with water to form a paste, and evenly coat the inner wall and bottom of the retort to prevent distillation residues from sticking.
2. Place the purified hard amalgam (after filter-pressing and washing) into the retort, with a thickness controlled at 40–50mm.
3. Cover and tighten the retort lid with fixing bolts, place the device on the combustion furnace, connect the water pipe, and immerse the outlet pipe into a water basin.
4. Ignite the furnace and heat slowly on low flame. After 30–50 minutes, switch to medium flame to sublimate mercury into the outlet pipe, which then condenses through the water jacket and flows into the cold water basin.
5. When no obvious liquid mercury is discharged from the outlet pipe, switch to high flame and continue distillation for 30 minutes to fully remove residual mercury.
6. Lift the outlet pipe away from the water surface, shut down the combustion furnace, and open the pressure relief valve to balance the internal and external pressure.
7. Collect the liquid mercury from the water basin. After the retort cools down with water, open the top cover and take out the sponge gold.

Advantages

1. Compact & Portable: Small in size, easy to carry and transfer, suitable for various gold panning sites.
2. Efficient & User-friendly: Simple operation and high separation efficiency, enabling quick mercury-gold separation.
3. Complete Condensation: Compact design with a water cooling system ensures full liquefaction of mercury vapor.
4. Safe & Eco-friendly: Equipped with an exhaust device to avoid harm to human health from residual mercury vapor inside the tank after distillation.