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Which mineral is the main ore used to produce mercury?
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mercury processing
Mercury in the bulb of a thermometer.
The principal ore mineral used to produce mercury is cinnabar, which is a soft, red to reddish-brown mercury sulfide (HgS).123
While there are more than 25 known minerals that contain mercury, cinnabar is the primary source for commercial extraction. The metal is typically recovered through a pyrometallurgical process, which involves roasting the ore in air to liberate mercury vapor, followed by condensation. Due to the inherent toxicity of mercury, modern extraction methods also explore chemical dissolution using sodium hypochlorite or sulfide solutions, from which the metal can be recovered through precipitation or electrolysis.143