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 and joined the Terrium collection in 2026.
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
At Almadén, mercury commonly results from the breaking of its bond with sulphur in cinnabar, mercury sulphide (HgS). Because Hg⁰ is liquid at room temperature and has very high surface tension, when released it does not form crystals but droplets. It does not adhere to surfaces or "wet" them as water would. Instead it retracts on itself: surface tension dominates, minimising area and producing near-spherical beads. This occurs because cinnabar (HgS) is not fully stable; in hydrothermal environments such as the Almadén system it can be reduced, cleaving the Hg–S bond and releasing metallic mercury (Hg⁰).
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
- Acquired
- 2026
- 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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