Hello Trevor
Saigerprozess is an old german word/term which means, that a certain smelting
process was working in a vertical way - saiger is an old miners term still
used under german geologists, for example : "this ore vein is saiger" meaning
: the ore vein runs absolutely vertical with no incline at all. By the way :
the opposite is "söhlig" meaning horizontal
In older times the term saiger was apparently wider used
Regarding the mercury : Mercury was used /is used to extract gold from finely
crushed ore or slimes. The mercury reacts eagerly with the gold, forming a so
called "amalgam ( simliar to the silver amalgam widely used by dentists) .
This amalgam can be heated again - the mercury evaporates in the heat and a
gold foam remains. This technique is a very old one and was used back to roman
/ ancient times
Hope this helps a bit
Thomas
http://www.untertage.com
Trevor Dunkerley schrieb:
> Can any reader suggest a source of information for the above process which
> does not require a degree in chemistry to understand.
>
> Recently a new floor was being laid in a 16th century cottage in Combe
> Martin, N. Devon. Beneath the original lime/ash floor was an earth floor
> with large quantities of beads of mercury. The builder was unable to
> collect all of the mercury so concreted it in!
>
> Suggestions as to the use of mercury in 16/17th century -
> mining/silver/lead/smelting?
>
> regards,
>
> Trevor.
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