(57) @ A process for the purification of mercury from the metal impurities contained therein, wherein the mercury is contacted with an aqueous solution, characterized in that the mercury and the aqueous solution are loaded into reactor (1) in the upper part (2) of which there is present a gas. The mercury and the aqueous solution are circulated by means of a pump (11) installed in an external recirculation circuit (8,9,10), which pump draws the liquid phases from the bottom of the reactor and sends them back into the reactor through a nozzle (3) or a liquid-gas ejector (3,4) arranged in the upper part (2) of the reactor.
As a consequence of the dynamic-flow conditions thus created, the mercury is dispersed in the aqueous phase in the form of minute droplets and is intensely mixed with the aqueous phase, and as a result the impurities pass into the aqueous phase.
Thereby there is achieved an effective removal of the impurities from the mercury.