cinnabar

The occurrence of cinnabar at Tsumeb was first noted by Strunz et al. (1958a) as an "intensely red powder" and tiny red crystals in cavities in cerussite, a description repeated by Pinch and Wilson (1977).

Keller (1984) confirmed that the cinnabar is of secondary origin; it is possibly an oxidation product of sphalerite which, according to Lombaard et al. (1986) contains up to 150ppm Hg.

cerussite; sphalerite