Visited a place just like that but in Victoria in the 70's, remember we went panning for opals, I found one and has a ring made from it and gave it to a girlfriend. Good ol days lol.(Back over in march for 6 weeks, Perth and Brisbane) Back on topic I wonder if any of those workers suffered ill health from working with mercury?
On 10 Feb, 01:58, Cobra007 <[email protected]> wrote: > Nice one Lucky. A couple of years we visited "Old Mogo > Town"http://www.oldmogotown.com.au/ > > The gold was extracted from the rocks exactly how you describe it. I > also raised the question there about the mercury used. According to > the guide, they did know at that time already that mercury wasn't good > for you in those quantities but the people who worked the closest to > the mercury had very high pays and would only do so for about 6 > months. > > Michel > > On Feb 10, 12:47 pm, Lucky <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > > > On my of my visits to Western Australia I went to a place called > > 'Paynes Find' owned by a then 62 year old woman. There she operates > > 'paynes find gold battery' the only battery in WA. Starting from her > > grandfather she owns and operates a 100 year old machine that crushes > > gold ore by battering them with huge logs acting as hammers connected > > to a belt driven wooden cam. The crushed ore slurry is then poured > > over a large mercury-wetted copper plate sluice gold particles bond > > with the mercury and become an amalgam. The mercury is constantly > > scrapped off/renewed from the copper plate and then BOILED off to > > extract the fine gold particles and the mercury condensed and reused. > > > The only heath and safety equipment being a pair of gloves to handle > > the hot containers! No sealed containers, no 'safe room' all just done > > in a tin building/open air, just kettles and glass containers! I asked > > Mrs Taylor if she thought about the safety concerns her reply was > > alone the lines of 'Mercury, pah! Her, her grandfather, her father > > and all their siblings had done this since 1939 and all lived a > > healthy long life!' Not a care in the world, she still daily climbs > > down rope ladders, sets dynamite, blasts and extracts gold ore herself > > as well as crushing for any prospectors who arrive. She also always > > takes a bucket with her when taking her dogs for a walk as she > > generally find a few gold bearing rocks 'laying around' the bush! > > > I have just read (see link) that she has recently sold her gold-mining > > tenements to the tune of AU$3 million + shares and options, not a bad > > retirement fund at 67 I guess, the battery is now a > > museum.http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/west-australian-familys-g... > > Some good pictures in the slide show > > > > There's a class action law suit being launched in the USA (where > > > else!) claiming injury due to the mercury in tubes/valves, > > > specifically rectifiers. Several "surplus"-type suppliers are > > > mentioned. > > > > No-one has raised the spectre of nixies, most of which contain > > > mercury. Just some joyous thing for those of you who sell them > > > commercially to be aware of! > > > > "http://www.cascadesurplus.com/lawsuit/ > > > > A number of popular suppliers are named in the lawsuit, including > > > Antique Electronic Supply, Allied Electronics, Angela Instruments, MCM > > > Electronics, VacuumTubes.com, Surplus Sales of Nebraska, and Triode > > > Electronics, to name a few. Ebay had also been named a defendant, but > > > they successfully moved to get dropped from the case because they do > > > not manufacture vacuum tubes." > > > > Nick -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/neonixie-l?hl=en-GB.
