Editing Cinnabar (section)

== Mining and extraction of mercury ==
[[File:Alchimia 1570 p 9.tif|thumb|Apparatus for the distillation of cinnabar, ''Alchimia'', 1570]]
As the most common source of mercury in nature,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ec.gc.ca/mercure-mercury/default.asp?lang=En&n=2C1BBBDA-1 |publisher=Environment Canada |title=Natural Sources: Mercury |date=9 January 2007 |access-date=2015-07-24}}</ref> cinnabar has been mined for thousands of years, even as far back as the [[Neolithic Age]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Martín Gil |first1=J. |last2=Martín Gil |first2=F. J. |last3=Delibes de Castro |first3=G. |last4=Zapatero Magdaleno |first4=P. |last5=Sarabia Herrero |first5=F. J. | year = 1995 | title = The first known use of vermillion | journal = Experientia | volume = 51 | issue = 8 | pages = 759–761 | pmid = 7649232 | doi = 10.1007/BF01922425 |s2cid=21900879 | issn = 0014-4754 }}</ref> During the [[Roman Empire]] it was mined both as a pigment,<ref>{{cite book|author-link=Vitruvius |author=Vitruvius |title=De architectura |volume=VII |at=4–5|title-link=De architectura }}{{primary source inline|date=July 2015}}</ref><ref name=PlinyNatHist33>{{cite book|author-link=Pliny the Elder |author=Pliny |title=Natural History |volume=XXXIII |at=36–42|title-link=Natural History (Pliny) }}{{primary source inline|date=July 2015}}</ref> and for its mercury content.<ref name=PlinyNatHist33/>{{rp|XLI}}

To produce liquid mercury (quicksilver), crushed cinnabar ore is [[Roasting (metallurgy)|roasted]] in [[rotary furnace]]s. Pure mercury separates from sulfur in this process and easily evaporates. A [[Condenser (laboratory)|condensing column]] is used to collect the liquid metal, which is most often shipped in iron flasks.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/jres/041/jresv41n3p205_A1b.pdf |journal=Journal of Research of the National Bureau of Standards |title=Concentration of Isotopes of Mercury in Countercurrent Molecular Stills |first1=Samuel L. |last1=Madorsky |first2=Paul |last2=Bradt |first3=Sidney |last3=Straus |volume=41 |date=September 1948 |id=Research Paper RP1918 |access-date=2024-08-26}}</ref>