Cinnabar

Object/Artifact

-

Crater Rock Museum

Name/Title

Cinnabar

Entry/Object ID

78.62.102

Description

Chemical Composition: Al(OH)3 Crystal System: Hexagonal System Description: Common Name: Cinnabar Chemistry: HgS Group: Sulfides Location: Nevada Description: Small rose colored specimen with a powdery texture. It is all Cinnabar, no matrix. Physical Charateristics: Color is a bright scarlet or cinnamon red to a brick red. •Luster is adamantine to submetallic in darker specimens. •Transparency crystals are translucent to transparent. •Crystal System is trigonal; 32 •Crystal Habits: individual, well formed, large crystals are scarce; crusts and crystal complexes are more common; may be massive, or in capilary needles. Crystals that are found tend to be the six sided trigonal scalahedrons that appear to have opposing three sided pyramids. It also forms modified rhombohedrons, prismatic and twinned crystals as discribed above. •Cleavage is perfect in three directions, forming prisms. •Fracture is uneven to splintery. •Hardness is 2 - 2.5. •Specific Gravity is approximately 8.1+ (very heavy for a non-metallic mineral) •Streak is red •Associated Minerals are realgar, pyrite, dolomite, quartz, stibnite and mercury. •Other Characteristics: silghtly sectile and crystals can be striated. •Notable Occurances include Almaden, Spain; Idria, Serbia; Hunan Prov., China and California, Oregon, Texas, and Arkansas, USA. •Best Field Indicators are crystal habit, density, cleavage, softness and color. Fracture: Uneven Hardness: 2 Gypsum Luster: Vitreous Rock Type: Sedimentary Specific Gravity: 8.1 Streak: Red

Collection

Delmar Smith Mineral Collection

Acquisition

Accession

78.62

Source or Donor

Delmar Smith Mineral Collection

Acquisition Method

Donation

Dimensions

Width

1-1/4 in

Depth

1/4 in

Length

7/8 in

Location

Location

Shelf

CS-E-1

Room

Curation Storage

Building

Crater Rock Museum

Category

Storage

Moved By

Curator

Date

February 23, 2024