patio process

patio process, method of isolating silver from its ore that was used from the 16th to early in the 20th century; the process was apparently commonly used by Indians in America before the arrival of the Europeans.

The silver ore was crushed and ground by mule power in arrastras, shallow circular pits paved with stone. Large blocks of stone attached by beams to a central rotating post were dragged around the arrastra, reducing the ore to a fine mud. This was then spread over a courtyard or patio, sprinkled with mercury, salt, and copper sulfate, and mixed by repeatedly driving mules over it. Chemical reactions freed the silver from its compounds and caused it to dissolve in the mercury. When the amalgamation was complete, the material was agitated with water in large tubs and the mud run off. The amalgam remaining at the bottom was collected and heated to drive off the mercury. The process, especially suitable for the silver ores of the dry, barren areas of Mexico, was responsible for a large proportion of the world’s silver production for 350 years; it was finally displaced by the cyanide process early in the 20th century.