fondon

plural fondons

1. A large copper vessel used for hot amalgamation.

   If the mercury is added carefully and the mullers kept moving at the proper speed, the amalgam will not cling to the copper bottom and mullers of the fondon.

   1902, International Correspondence Schools, Metallurgy of Gold, Silver, Copper, Lead, and Zinc - Volume 1, page 50

   2 more examples

   The diameter of the copper bottom of the fondon is from 5 feet 6 inches to 7 feet 6 inches, and, instead of the necessary motion being imparted to the charge by a wooden stirrer, worked by hand, it is obtained by blocks of copper dragged over the bottom by an arrangement similar to the arms of an arrastra.

   1891, John Arthur Phillips, Hilary Bauerman, Elements of Metallurgy, page 749

   The pan amalgamation process is doubtless an outcome of the cazo and fondon processes, although it also bears some resemblance to the obsolete Freiberg barrel amalgamation process, in which ores, after being roasted with salt, were treated in rotating barrels with mercury, iron and water.

   1909, Thomas Kirke Rose, The Precious Metals, Comprising Gold, Silver and Platinum, page 161