Mercury > Mercury partnerships > Small-scale miners

Mercury Partnerships - Small-scale Miners

Through the collective efforts of small-scale miners, over 160 lbs of mercury have been turned over to the Washington Department of Ecology over the past 3½ years.

In addition, prospectors find and remove lead shot and fishing weights during their dredging and panning activities.

During the California Gold Rush, it is estimated that ten times more mercury was put into the environment than gold was taken out. Some of Washington’s rivers also have mercury left from turn-of-the-century gold mining.

Modern-day miners team with the Washington State Department of Ecology to remove mercury left in streams from the historic gold rush days. Ecology has been working with the recreational mining community to collect mercury recovered from their panning and dredging activities.

Related information

• Mercury from Mining describes current mercury emissions from mining.
• Historical Uses of Mercury discusses the history of Gold and Mercury mining in Washington.
• Gold and Fish pamphlet explains rules for small-scale miners the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
• Mercury Contamination from Historical Gold Mining in California from the US Geological Survey (USGS).
• Mercury Contamination from Hydraulic Placer-Gold Mining in the Dutch Flat Mining District, California Pdf from the USGS.
• 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.