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Cinnabar or cinnabarite, likely deriving from the Ancient Greek: κιννάβαρι (kinnabari), is the bright scarlet to brick-red form of mercury(II) sulfide (HgS) that is the most common source ore for refining elemental mercury, and is the historic source for the brilliant red or scarlet pigment termed vermilion and associated red mercury pigments.
Vallejo is a waterfront city in Solano County, California, located in the North Bay subregion of the San Francisco Bay Area. Vallejo is geographically the closest North Bay city to the inner East Bay, so it is sometimes associated with that region. Its population was 115,942 at the 2010 census. It is the tenth most populous city in the San Francisco Bay Area, and the largest in Solano County.
Solano County is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 413,344. The county seat is Fairfield.
Almadén is a town and municipality in the Spanish province of Ciudad Real, within the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. The town is located at 4° 49' W and 38° 46' N and is 589 meters above sea level. Almadén is approximately 300 km south of Madrid in the Sierra Morena. The name Almadén is from the Arabic word المعدن al-maʻdin, meaning 'the metal.'
Vermilion is both a brilliant red or scarlet pigment, originally made from the powdered mineral cinnabar, and the corresponding color. It was widely used in the art and decoration of Ancient Rome, in the illuminated manuscripts of the Middle Ages, in the paintings of the Renaissance, as sindoor in India, and in the art and lacquerware of China.
Mare Island is a peninsula in the United States in the city of Vallejo, California, about 23 miles (37 km) northeast of San Francisco. The Napa River forms its eastern side as it enters the Carquinez Strait juncture with the east side of San Pablo Bay. Mare Island is considered a peninsula because no full body of water separates this or several other named "islands" from the mainland. Instead, a series of small sloughs cause seasonal water-flows among the so-called islands. Mare Island is the largest of these at about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) long and a mile wide.
Sonoma Valley is a valley located in southeastern Sonoma County, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. Known as the birthplace of the California wine industry, the valley is home to some of the earliest vineyards and wineries in the state, some of which survived the phylloxera epidemic of the 1870s and the impact of prohibition in the early 20th century. Today, the valley's wines are protected by the US Federal Government's Sonoma Valley and Carneros AVAs.
Gold mining is the resource extraction of gold by mining.
Almaden Quicksilver County Park is a 4,163 acres (17 km²) park that includes the grounds of former mercury ("quicksilver") mines adjacent to south San Jose, California, USA. The park's elevation varies greatly: the most used entrances are less than 600 feet above sea level, while the highest point in the park is over 1,700 feet above sea level.
New Idria was an unincorporated town in San Benito County, California. It was named after the New Idria Mercury Mine, which closed in 1972, resulting in a ghost town.
The Sulphur Bank Mine is located near Clearlake Oaks and Clear Lake in Lake County, California. The 150-acre (0.61 km2) mine became one of the most noted mercury producers in the world.
The New Almaden quicksilver mine in the Capitancillas range in Santa Clara County, California, United States, is the oldest and most productive quicksilver mine in the U.S. The site was known to the indigenous Ohlone for its cinnabar long before a Mexican settler became aware of the ores in 1820. By the time they were identified as mercury, the mine was perfectly timed to supply the California Gold Rush. The mine ran intermittently after 1927 and eventually closed. It was purchased by the county and is now part of Almaden Quicksilver County Park.
The Hastings Mine is a mineral extraction site approximately 4.5 miles (7.2 km) northeast of the city of Vallejo, Solano County, California. The Hastings site on Sulfur Springs Mountain was used for extraction of cinnabar until the year 1930. The Hastings Mine is classified as a medium priority mine from the standpoint of environmental oversight. In the last inspection of the Hastings Mine in 1997, sediments in a drainage below the mine were found to contain ten parts per million of mercury; furthermore, spring water below the mine exhibited a water concentration of .31 micrograms per liter. Miles of underground shafts were driven in the course of working the quicksilver deposits in the area. In 1989, Earth Metrics reviewed old 1918 maps of workings of the Hastings and St. John's Mines and found that mine shafts were not driven into the site prior to the year 1918.
Sulphur Springs Mountain is a mountain in southwestern Solano County, California. The slopes can be accessed via hiking trails emanating from Blue Rock Springs Park in the city of Vallejo. Cinnabar deposits were extracted from this location in the early 1900s at Hastings Mine and St. John's Mine. Both mines are classified as medium priority mine from the standpoint of environmental oversight for California inactive mines. The highest peak on Sulfur Springs Mountain stands at an elevation of 1,112 feet (339 m), and affords expansive views of the northern San Francisco Bay as well as the Napa River. The rock outcroppings which occur in the Sulphur Springs area are composed of basaltic lava; however, there are also serpentine outcrops, which soils are known to provide habitat for many rare and endangered species in Northern California.
Blue Rock Springs Creek is a 3.4-mile-long (5.5 km) stream that rises on Sulfur Springs Mountain in southwestern Solano County, California. A bicycle trail is positioned along the creekside in some of the lower reaches. Water quality is impaired in Blue Rock Springs Creek due to historic cinnabar extraction in this watershed. Blue Rock Springs Creek has been tested for the toxin diazinon and found to have attained an elevated value of 40.9 micrograms per liter; diazinon is a toxic pesticide associated with golf course maintenance. The 36-hole Blue Rock Springs Golf Course lies in this watershed; although diazinon has been banned for golf course use in the U.S., its persistence in the environment is quite high. The stream has had application of a hydrological transport model to analyze flooding potential and to aid in the design of certain stream channel modification carried out in the last quarter of the 20th century to accommodate urbanization of some of the lower reaches.
Rindler Creek is a stream that rises on Sulfur Springs Mountain in southwestern Solano County, California. A stream restoration project has been conducted to reverse the damage of cattle overgrazing. One goal of this project is to enhance habitat suitable for the endangered Northern Red-legged Frog. Water quality has been altered in Rindler Creek due to historic cinnabar extraction in this watershed.
Mercury is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is commonly known as quicksilver and was formerly named hydrargyrum. A heavy, silvery d-block element, mercury is the only metallic element that is liquid at standard conditions for temperature and pressure; the only other element that is liquid under these conditions is the halogen bromine, though metals such as caesium, gallium, and rubidium melt just above room temperature.
Horse Heaven is a ghost town in Jefferson County in the U.S. state of Oregon. The settlement, which had a post office from 1938 to 1946, is 46 miles (74 km) east of Madras and 18 miles (29 km) east of Ashwood.
The New Idria Mercury Mine encompasses 8,000 acres of land in the Diablo Mountain range, incorporating the town of Idria in San Benito County, California. Idria, initially named New Idria, is situated at 36°25′01″N120°40′24″W and 2440 feet (680m) above mean sea level. The area was, in the past, recorded in the US Census Bureau as a rural community; however, Idria has become a ghost town since the closing of once lucrative mining operations in the early 1970s.
References
- ↑ U.S.Bureau of Mines, Mercury Potential in the United States
- ↑ Oversight of inactive mercury mines in California Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine
- 1 2 C.Michael Hogan, Marc Papineau et al., Environmental Assessment of the Columbus Parkway Widening between Ascot Parkway and the Northgate Development, Vallejo, Earth Metrics Inc. Report 7853, California State Clearinghouse, Sept, 1989
Coordinates: 38°09′07″N122°11′36″W / 38.1519°N 122.1933°W
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