| Abstract Title: | Finding New Mercury Minerals - A Review |
| Presenter Name: | Michael F Cox |
| Company/Institution: | New Almaden Quicksilver County Park Association |
| Session: | Progress in understanding Hg and human health impacts |
| Day and Session: | Tuesday 26th July - Session Two |
| Start Time: | 10:00 UTC |
| Co-Authors: | Michael F Cox |
Abstract Information :
The catalog of IMA-approved mercury minerals has expanded from twenty at the beginning of 1970 to one hundred and four at the beginning of 2022. Analytical instrumentation improvements and a small number of professionals have made significant discoveries in mercury mineralogy and crystallography, mainly in the two decades starting in 1970. New discoveries since 1990 are about half of the prior two decades. Historically, advances have rested with relatively few people, and many have passed away or retired.
Amateur mineral collectors are often the source of material for professional research. Discoveries from California and Nevada are reviewed. Many phases remain uncharacterized due to analytical difficulties and a lack of interest. Continued work on characterizing and cataloging naturally-occurring mercury minerals could be valuable to investigations of mercury biogeochemistry.
