Articles from the Historical Society in Josephine County Oregon

Mercury Mining II - Mercury and its Importance in Mining

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One of the most common and simplest methods of extracting the gold from the mercury and used by almost the entire Josephine County miner's was through the use of a potato.

The mercury with the trapped fine gold was heated on the stove in the miner's cabin and a hollowed out raw potato half was placed over the mercury globule. The potato would absorb the mercury, leaving the gold in the pan. The potato was then banged gently with the hollowed part down freeing the mercury to be used again. This procedure could be dangerous if precautionary venting were not undertaken, as mercury fumes are very poisonous and attack the nervous system.

Elements of mercury can be found in the Rogue, Illinois, and Applegate River to this day as a result of its use during the mining period of history in Josephine County.

Sluice boxes could be made light and portable six to eight feet in length or they could be joined together as much as a half-mile in length. As much as 600 lbs of mercury was used in some of the longer sluice boxes.

All streams found their way back to the rivers eventually and carried traces of mercury used by the miner at his claim.

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