The geochemistry of quicksilver mineralization

Abstract

The first portion of the paper presents a geochemical investigation of the chemical and physical factors resulting in the formation of a typical quicksilver ore\---|containing cinnabar and possibly native mercury and metacinnabar\---|and the relation of the common mercury and gangue minerals to the mineralizing solutions. The second portion of the paper presents a petro-graphic investigation of (a) the relation of cinnabar deposition to characteristic types of wall rock alteration, (b) the relation of iron disulphide to mercuric sulphide mineralization, and (c) the mode of access of the mineralizing solutions into the country rocks. The common, marked syngenesis of cinnabar with silica is emphasized.