1. Introduction to Mercury
John Hoggatt

2. A little Bit of History Element #80 Hydrargyrum Dates back to 1500 BC
Used as pigments and vaccinations
Mercury element number eighty
Was named from the latin word meaning “liquid silver”.. Back then they did have the ability to process cinnabar into mercury ore, so any mercury they found was elemental mercury which occurs in a liquid form
Was found in toombs dating back to 1500, the body that was found was, was found to have elevated levels of mercury
Alloys were made with mercury creating a nice solid

3. Characteristics Liquid at room temp Rarely found in nature
Mined as Cinnabar
Low melting / freezing point’s
Color determines grade of ore
Can be transformed into other forms of mercury
Elemental is liquid at room temp, but there are other kinds of mercury such as organic and methylmercury
Freezzing -37 F
Melting 673
least flexible metal temp wise
Comprises .005 % of the earths crust

4. Geologic Formations Found in two places Near volcanic margins
Felsic intrusive
Hot springs
Hydrothermal source
Europe, Asia big players their deposits ranging from 7-15% mercury ore
Rest of world 1-5% mercury ore present in depostion

5. Production Percentage in crust China Kyrgyzstan Rest of the world
0.05 mg/kg of earths crust not a lot of it
China producers 880 tons
440 tons Kyrgyzstan
Rest of the world produces next to nothing this is because it is being phased out due to its toxic nature

6. Extraction Process Hot springs Near volcanic margins
Open pit / Underground
Sulfur bank mine CA
Near volcanic margins
Underground
Sulfure bank mine
Would mine mercury sulfide HGS, would then treat it in a furnace. Turned the mercury into a gass and then recondense it into quicksilver. The sulfur while buring would be converted to a carbon and the waste rock was dumped near the lake shore out of the way of mining

7. Industrial Uses Power generation Chemical plants Artisanal mining
Power plants the coal industry emits a lot of mercury into the atmosphere coal is burned, releases different forms of mercury from the coal. Depending on the form dictates what element comes next. Usually methylmercury is what's emitted and then settles into the atmosphere.
Chem plants: mercury cell method produces chlorine free sodium hydroxide. Unfortunately several tones of mercury are needed and emitted due to this process. Additionally the cholirne and sodium hydroxide that was produce contains traces of mercury
Artisanal mining most of the mercury that gets In contact with humans is the mercury vapor, unless you are working in an artisanal mine where the mercury is used by hand to separate gold from not gold.
One study does purposed as much as 2 grams of mercury are emitted per ounce of gold retrieved.
The exposer of mercury comes from the separation processes these people use by smelting mercury balls which contain gold. By doing so they release mercury vapors. People can have mercury poisoning after
Globally 1350 mt of mercury are emitted into the atmosphere. Of that of that is attributed to artisanal mining.

8. Commercial / Practical Uses
Fish consumption
Thermometers
Barometers
Fluorescent lamps
Vaccinations
Hat making industry 1800’s
Consumption: people eat fish, shellfish and sometimes birds that have also eaten fish. Each living organism has mercury in it, the amount can vary but Prego women should be careful when eating fish due to the possibility of having a mentally disabled child.
Barometers use mercury because of its density.. It allows for the atmospheric pressure to adjust the height of the mercury giving us an decent reading. If water were used in a barometer, it would be almost 14 times bigger than a barometer
Trace amounts of mercury in light bulbs, it helps then run efficiently. About 4 milligrams of mercury are in each lightbulb seal within the glass tubing
Vaccinations used to treat syphilis, thiomersal another type of mercury was used as a preservatives in vaccines. However in 1998 the CDC demanded vaccine makers remove the thiomersal from all vaccines immediately
Mad hatters disease
1800’s mercury was the common solution used to treat fur and make it into felt… workers inside the factorys where they worked received prolonged exposed to mercury vapors due to poor ventilation in the working environments.. While the mercury built up they would get symptoms know as the hatters shakes. Slurred speech, memory loss and depression.
People who were also treated for syphilis were given doses of mercury to take because doctors thought that back in the day mercury was good for you… so more workers started drinking mercury to turn out the best felt by peeing on their fur and then turning it into felt.. Since felt is the strongest natural fabric produced my man, adding a few extra drops of mercury on it would make it stronger.

9. Different Forms of Mercury
Bituminous coal
Key ingredient
Elemental mercury
Ionic reduction
Oxidized mercury
Smoke stacks
Methylmercury
Final product
Bitumious coal buring creates all three of these forms of mercury.
Elemental mercury is due to ionic reduction, taking away electrons allowing the mercury to bond with what element comes to it first, over time is will transform back into liquid
Oxidized mercury is due to bonding with any avalible sulfur ion. Once bonded to the ulfur ion it then becomes methylmercury which is not good for the environment

10. Geoplolitics EPA measures Clean Air Act 1993 Safe Drinking Water Act
Emission Standards
Clean air act 1993 : The Clean Air Act 1993 controls domestic and industrial smoke emissions
Safe drinking water act: Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, EPA sets standards for drinking water that apply to public water systems. These standards protect people by limiting levels of mercury and other contaminants in drinking water. Mercury contamination in drinking water can come from erosion of natural deposits of mercury, discharges into water from refineries and factories, and runoff from landfills and cropland. U.S. states have the primary responsibility for enforcing drinking water standards.
Emission standards: power plants must meet a specific deadline by reducing their mercury emissions into the atmosphere.
There are 1400 coal fired plants in USA, only 600 of those have the technology to remove a significant portion of mercury that’s being emitted

11. Some Odd Stuff Wouldn’t You Say???
Alchemists thought of mercury as the father to all elements
Only three other elements are liquid at room temp
Cesium, Gallium, and Rubidium
This is because alchemists wanted to fit gold, and mercury is a great extraction tool

12. References
And 28 others that wouldn’t fit