Cinnabar is the common ore of which metal?

Cinnabar is a beautiful orange red to dark red mineral that is prized for both its color and its mercury content. In ancient times, cinnabar was ground into a powder to form a pigment called vermilion. This pigment was used for art and decoration and was also added to cosmetics. It's still used in artists’ paints today, although it's often replaced by synthetic and less toxic pigments.

Cinnabar is made of a compound called mercury (ll) sulfide or mercuric sulfide. The chemical formula of this compound is HgS. Mercury (ll) sulfide occurs in two forms in nature—the more common red or cinnabar form and the rarer black or metacinnabar form. Mercury and mercury compounds are toxic to humans, although cinnabar is not as poisonous as some other forms of mercury. Inorganic mercury such as the mercury found in cinnabar is the least toxic form of mercury, but it's still poisonous.

Cinnabar is usually found in rocks that form near volcanic activity or in hot springs. It’s produced near the Earth’s surface from hot liquids that bubble up from deeper in the Earth. Most of the world’s mercury supply is obtained from cinnabar. Major cinnabar producers today include Spain, China, Italy, Serbia, Slovenia, and parts of the United States.