Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University, Saint Petersburg, Russia¹ ; Ivangorod Humanities and Technology Institute (branch of Saint Petersburg State University of Aerospace Instrumentation), Ivangorod, Russia²:

I. A. Tropov, Professor at the Department of History¹, Professor at the Department of Social and Economic Studies and Foreign Trade², Doctor of Historical Sciences, e-mail: tropov_ia@pers.spmi.ru

Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University, Saint Petersburg, Russia:
S. I. Podolskiy, Associate Professor at the Department of History, Candidate of Historical Sciences, e-mail: podolskiy_si@pers.spmi.ru

This paper considers the history of optimizing the mercury production processes from the ancient times to the present day. Having analyzed, systemized and evaluated a considerable collection of research papers by Russian and foreign scientists, the authors of this paper examine the key stages in the history of mercury mining and processing technology in close relation to the evolution of human knowledge about the properties of this rare metal and its potential use. It is shown that certain useful properties of mercury were discovered and described back in the Middle Ages by Arabic and West European alchemists in the first place. Their experiments were mainly of practical nature and contributed to the dissemination of and further research into the properties of mercury, while also serving as an essential basis for the development of mercury production processes. The paper demonstrates that the scientific research into the properties of mercury and the practical needs to use it both in industry and in everyday life would drive the search for human-friendly methods of its production. The danger posed by mercury vapour urged researchers to find ways to introduce automation into the mercury production circuits. The paper highlights the contribution made by the Ortis brothers, as well as the mining engineer A. A. Auerbach and others, to the mercury production processes. Having conducted their study, the authors came to the conclusion that the modern automation processes adopted by the mercury industry had become the result of versatile effort taken by several generations of researchers and engineers from Russia and abroad. At the same time, further effort is required for the development of innovative techniques that would vastly rely on production automation and use of robots, aimed at ensuring the absence of environmental impacts of mercury-reliant industries and the protection of life and health of all involved personnel.

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