Washington State Department of Ecology

Mercury from Mining

Washington state's mercury mines are closed. The last large gold mine that used mercury for extraction in Ferry County closed in 2005. A proposed gold mine in nearby Okanogan County plans to use a cyanide-leach process instead of mercury for extraction.

Mercury Partnerships - Small-scale Miners discusses the successful efforts of small-scale miners.

Historical Uses of Mercury has a section on mining.

Related information

Gold and Fish pamphlet explains Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife rules for small-scale miners.
Inactive and Abandoned Mine Lands--Roy and Barnum-McDonnell Mines, Morton Cinnabar Mining District, Lewis County, Washington Department of Natural Resources Division of Geological and Earth Sciences investigation of this old mine site from 2001.
Regulation of Metals Mining and Milling Operations. From the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), this page details the rules about mining in Washington
Mercury Studies Team at the United States Geological Survey
Mercury Potential, the United States, Part 1 of 2. This large pdf file contains the first half of a 1965 Bureau of Mines Information Circular on mercury mining. This Part 1 contains much information on California and other states near the front of the alphabet. Washington is in Part 2, below. This is from the Arizona Department of Mines and Mineral Resources.
Mercury Potential, the United States. Part 2 of 2. This large pdf file contains the second half of the 1965 Bureau of Mines Information Circular on mercury mining. This Part 2 includes information on all known mercury mines in Washington, beginning on document page 358. Your pdf reader may find this as page 179.
Mercury at Theodore Gray’s periodictable.com
The Klondike Gold Rush Curriculum materials for Washington Schools from the University of Washington