first | previous | next | last | home
(55 of 103)

It's an arrastra. This is a really neat find. Arrastras are usually associated with gold mines but they are also a low cost, self-sufficient way to process silver ore. Drag stones are still used to crush the ore which, mixed with water, becomes a paste. Mercury (quicksilver) is then added, which precipitates out the silver. Aside from being slow and labor intensive, it's not a bad method.