Mercurio
Mercurio is a mineral with formula Hg, in the Elementos Nativos group. This specimen comes from Mina de Almadén, Almadén, Ciudad Real, Castilla-La Mancha, España.
Description
A cinnabar matrix crowded with mercury droplets beading across the entire surface. Clearly visible to the naked eye and well resolved with a hand lens.
History of this specimen
This piece is tied to my first try at a fair from the other side of the table. It was in Deifontes and it was Miguel’s; together with his wife Maricarmen he lent me a small stretch of his table for a good while to try showing my pieces. The experience opened my eyes and broadened my prospects. I left pleased and full of ideas.
About Mercurio
In the Almadén mines, underground heat breaks down cinnabar (the rock that binds mercury and sulfur together), releasing the mercury as a liquid. Once freed, due to a massive internal force called surface tension, the mercury doesn't spread out or wet surfaces like water would; instead, it pulls itself together into almost perfect, shiny droplets.
About the locality
It is the great historic mercury mine. In fact "Almadén" in Arabic literally means "the mine" or "the deposit" (al-ma‘din المعدن), and it is the largest mercury anomaly on the planet. Its significance is recognised as a World Heritage Site together with its Slovenian sister, Idrija, with which it shares a history tied to mercury, mining and silver extraction from the Renaissance well into the 20th century.
Technical data
- Catalogue No.
- 0403
- Composition
- Hg
- Name
- Mercurio
- Group
- Elementos Nativos
- Category
- Meritum Persé
- Matrix
- Cinabrio
- Mine
- Mina de Almadén
- District / Municipality
- Almadén
- Province
- Ciudad Real
- Region
- Castilla-La Mancha
- Country
- España
- Size (cm)
- 5 x 3.5 x2
- Weight
- 49 g
- Ex-collection
- Miguel Ángel Hurtado Aguado
- Etymology
- From Latin hydrargyrum (from Greek hydrargyros), meaning "liquid silver".
- Quality
- Muy buena
- Value trend
- Estable
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