How do you use mercury to attract gold?

Question

does any1 know?

Answer 1

Mercury is mixed in with soil/silt/mud etc slurry that contains gold. The mercury forms an 'amalgam' with the gold (i.e. it bonds to the gold) making it easier to collect from the slurry.

The amalgam is heated, the mercury evaporates leaving gold behind. This is a very poor (and dangerous) way to extract gold as it pollutes the environment with toxic mercury. It is used in many poor countries with pretty awful consequences for the people and their habitat.

Answer 2

Technically, gold dissolves in mercury, forming amalgam alloys, but does not otherwise react with it.  So mercury does not attract gold, per se, but will dissolve it if they are mixed together.  Heating the amalgam boils off the mercury, which has a boiling point of 674°F.  Gold has a melting point of 1947°F, so the mercury can be extracted (and hopefully recovered) without hurting the gold.