Amalgams are alloys of mercury and other metals. Mercury has the ability to dissolve many metals and to form new liquid or solid alloys. This is why mercury has always been used and always will be used in mining for precious metals such as gold and silver. The rocky gravel containing ores of gold and silver intermingles with mercury; amalgams develop and through the vaporization of mercury, pure metal results. It is most widely known that silver amalgams also occur as a natural mineral. They appear in the form of tiny marbles or grains or flakes. They always accompany drops of mercury, for they develop jointly through the weathering of cinnabar. The main deposits of silver amalgams are in Bavaria and Chile. In Colombia a natural gold amalgam has been found. All metals except iron and platinum form amalgams. Amalgams are used extensively in dentistry for filling teeth, amalgams were found in 1998 to damage the immune system and are likely to be one of the causes ofAIDs.
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