Cinnabar
Species
Uncommon · HgS
Mercury sulfide and the primary ore of mercury. Its intense red colour made it valuable as a pigment. Deposits form around hot springs and volcanic vents. Handling requires caution due to mercury toxicity.
Identity
- Formula
- HgS
- Chemical class
- Sulfide
- Also known as
- Dragon's blood (archaic), Mercury ore
- Ore of
- Mercury
- Used in alchemy
- Cinnabar Powder
Crystallography
- Crystal system
- Trigonal
- Habits
- Massive, Granular, Rhombohedral
- Fracture
- Uneven
Physical properties
- Mohs hardness
- 2.5
- Density
- 8.19 g/cm³
- Luster
- Adamantine, Metallic
- Colors
- red, brownish red, lead gray
- Streak
- red
- Transparency
- Translucent, Opaque
Geology
- Origins
- Volcanic, Hydrothermal
- Host rocks
- Volcanic rock, Limestone and chalk
- Associated minerals
- Pyrite, Marcasite, Stibnite, Calcite
- Geography
- Spain (Almadén), China, USA, Serbia, Slovenia (Idrija)
Classification
- Rarity
- Uncommon
- Gem quality
- No
Arcane properties
- Affinity
- Fire, Death
- Effects
- Necromancy, Elemental fire
- Planar origin
- Material Plane
Sources
- M. Pasero and others, IMA Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification, The New IMA List of Minerals, updated September 2026. International Mineralogical Association (CNMNC), 2026.
- Cinnabar. Mindat.org (Hudson Institute of Mineralogy).
- J. W. Anthony, R. A. Bideaux, K. W. Bladh, M. C. Nichols, Cinnabar. Mineral Data Publishing, Handbook of Mineralogy, 2001.
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