1. An activity, process, or result of combining or uniting something: There has been an amalgamation of the two competing companies into one organization.
2. The mixing of mercury with another metal, or metals, to form an alloy: The jewelry manufacturer used an amalgamation of silver and stronger metals to create a design that was both durable and beautiful.
3. The process for the separation of metal from a base ore using such a chemical as mercury: The mine engineer explained that the amalgamation of gold was a complicated chemical process.

An iron container in which precious metal ores can be ground with water and further treated with mercury and chemicals until extractions of the metals are completed; used especially, formerly, to separate gold from its ore: Before all the fancy terminology and processes, the early gold miners used a shallow pan, the precursor to the amalgamation pan, and utilized water to separate gold from the rocks and gravel.

A flat metal surface on which mercury is spread so it will bind with gold particles as gold-bearing ore is washed over it: The miners were required to wear face masks when working near the amalgamation table because of the chemical process that was being used.