Coccinite is a rare

mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

iodide mineral with chemical formula of HgI₂, mercury(II) iodide. It was first discovered in

Casas Viejas Casas Viejas is a city located in the province of Cádiz, Spain. According to the 2005 census, the city has a population of 6,754 inhabitants. Casas Viejas is located in the '' Ruta del Toro''. Main sights * Cueva del Tajo de las Figuras *Iglesi ...

, Mexico; it has also been reported from

Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...

, New South Wales, and from a uranium mine in Thuringia and old mercury workings in the Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany. At the Thuringia deposit the mineral occurs as a

sublimation Sublimation or sublimate may refer to: * ''Sublimation'' (album), by Canvas Solaris, 2004 * Sublimation (phase transition), directly from the solid to the gas phase * Sublimation (psychology), a mature type of defense mechanism * Sublimate of mer ...

product resulting from fires associated with pyrite-bearing graptolitic

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

Discovery

The discovery was announced, by a man mentioned in Comptes rendus only as del Rio, in the journal of the Mexico City School of Mining. The news spread through the reading that journal and direct letters of del Rio. In the subsequent years, the discovery was mentioned several times. One of the earliest notes of the discovery is a translation of a letter of del Rio to Freiesleben. In 1839, it was described as lemon coloured spots in the sandstone of Casas Vijecas. This description was also given in a Spanish book printed in 1844. In 1836, the communication of Yniestra to Arago about a discovery made by del Rio was published in Comptes rendus as a short paper. This publication recounts that a mineral sample was deposited at the school of mines by a Mr. Jose Casas Viejas from the Querétaro province, and that the mineral had a red-brown color. In 1861, the book ''A Glossary of Mineralogy'' by Henry William Bristow stated that it had been found in Casas Viejas in Mexico as reddish brown particles on mercury selenide. Shortly after, in 1862, a book about chemical technology named the Mexican region of Cavas Viejas as the only location where the mineral was found.

References

{{Reflist, 2
del Rio

External links

Mercury(II) minerals Halide minerals Tetragonal minerals Minerals in space group 137