Spectrographic Study of Cinnabar

Abstract

A quantitative spectrographic study of cinnabar from twenty quicksilver deposits has indicated the elemental content of quicksilver mineralizing solutions and the extent to which various impurities exist in solid solution in cinnabar. The study indicates that certain heavy metals are invariably associated with cinnabar ores (viz., iron, chromium, manganese, silver, copper, zinc, nickel, germanium, lead, and cobalt). Of these elements, certain are markedly differentially concentrated (presumably in solid solution) in the cinnabar-namely, copper, lead, cobalt, germanium, and silver. Such concentrations are found regardless of geological or geographical occurrence. The varying shades of cinnabar coloration are found to be independent of the elements differentially concentrated in the cinnabar.