How did ancient miners and writers describe the recovery of quicksilver?

Ancient writers and miners described the recovery of quicksilver, or mercury, primarily through the process of distillation and condensation.1

In the 1st century CE, the Roman writer Pliny the Elder documented this method, which served as the precursor to modern metallurgical treatment. This process involves heating cinnabar—the most common mercury ore—in the presence of air. The heat decomposes the ore, liberating the metal as a vapour, which is then cooled and condensed into a liquid.12

While the mining and concentration of cinnabar were clearly described by the 4th century BCE, earlier references to mercury in ancient texts are often obscured by the use of various synonyms, making the authentication of its use in the early 2nd millennium BCE difficult. By the 16th century, this distillation technique was being performed in crude furnaces to meet the rising demand for mercury in medicine and the amalgamation of gold and silver ores.1