Gold processing Mining and concentrating | Britannica
2 #0183;#32;Amalgamation is accomplished by passing a slurry of ore over copper plates coated with mercury, by mixing a slurry of ore and mercury in a cylindrical or conical vessel called an amalgam barrel, or by grinding the ore in a ball, rod, or pebble mill to free the gold from the mineral matrix and then adding mercury to the mill and continuing grinding until the gold has dissolved in the mercury.