Cinnabar (Mercury Sulfide) – Ore Specimen

This specimen is an example of cinnabar, the primary ore of mercury, characterised by its distinctive red to orange-red coloration and massive, compact habit. In this piece, cinnabar occurs as irregular masses and streaks within a siliceous to altered host rock, rather than as well-formed crystals, which is typical of many mercury ore deposits.

Cinnabar forms in low-temperature hydrothermal environments, often associated with fault zones and volcanic or geothermal activity. In New Zealand, mercury mineralisation is relatively rare but is known from scattered localities in the North Island, including the Pui Pui area near Auckland, where hydrothermal fluids deposited mercury sulfide along fractures in host rocks.

Historically, cinnabar was mined as the principal source of mercury, a metal used in thermometers, scientific instruments, gold amalgamation, and pigments. Due to mercury’s toxicity, such specimens are now valued primarily for educational, geological, and historical significance rather than industrial use.

74 x 50 x 50mm

162g