In preparation for the Wellcome Elements event on April 8th, here is a short video showing how mercury amalgamates gold. Here a drop of mercury grabs hold of some gold foil and pulls it round itself. Although stunningly beautiful, it has to be remembered that mercury is still widely used in small-scale mining of gold round the world, and the run-off from this is a very serious environmental health problem in Latin America, Africa and parts of Asia.