ABSTRACT
The mineral cinnabar, HgS, is the most important source of mercury. The oxidation of this sulfide is a unique case which leads to the production of a metal. The reason is that the mercury oxide formed decomposes at the temperature of oxidation. The reactions may be represented as follows: HgS + 1 1 2 O 2 → HgO + SO 2 HgO → Hg + 1 2 O 2 https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203742112/1ebf24ff-a597-4d7f-bb7e-3f9d31ddf524/content/eq240.tif"/>
