The team members in this project are: Curtis Hall and Sofi Ronning
About Mercury
Though Mercury can be found in its native state, it is very rare and only lightly covers certain mercury ores, predominantly Cinnabar. Almost all production of mercury comes from cinnabar, which is heated by a current of air in order to extract the necessary mercury. One of the most recognizable characteristics of mercury is that, in its native state, it remains liquid at room temperature. Mercury also has the lowest freezing point of any metal, at -38.83 degrees Celsius.
Though it used to be one of the leading producers of mercury, with the closing of the McDermitt mine in Nevada, the U.S no longer produces any significant amount of mercury. Since 2005, China has been the leading producer of mercury, producing 1,350 tons in both 2012 and 2013. This is quite larger than even the next most, Kyrgyzstan, which produced 250 tons both years. Historically, mercury was used extensively in China and Tibet, both as a purported elixir for eternal life as well as the basis of Alchemy. In more recent history, mercury was used in large-scale gold mines, often times in California, in order to increases the gold catch by having excess gold cling to the mercury, therefor making it easier to retrieve. However, this uses is mostly removed now that large scale gold mines have steeply declined since 1960. Mercury is also used in the production of sodium hydroxide, where the sodium alloy binds with a mercury electrode. Other niche uses, such as neon signs, an ingredient in dental implants, and preservatives for vaccines make up most of the other uses, though a lot of these are on the decline as the lethality of mercury is known.
Whenever mercury is inhaled or otherwise ingested it can lead mercury poisoning, which has a whole array of effects. From numbness and weakening of the muscles, to rashes and memory problems. If ingested in a large enough dose death is common. If children are exposed to mercury over long periods of time, they can develop issues with their kidneys as well as a decreased intelligence. The process of mining mercury often causes it to leach into the surrounding environment, which then exposes people in said environment to the effects of mercury poisoning. When mercury is leached into large bodies of water, such as the ocean, it also easily bioaccumulates into fish, posing as a hazard towards those who consume the fish. Mercury poisoning doesn’t just affect humans. The effects can also be seen in local wildlife, where birds with toxic levels of mercury have difficulty flying.
Where Mercury is Found
Site #1 – McDermitt
McDermitt is located on the Nevada-Oregon border. Containing a population of only 513 people it is quite small. Of those 513 people, 75% of them are Native American. The vast majority of McDermitt’s economy depended on three things: mining, ranching, and farming. However, the last mining operation closed down in 1990, leading to a dwindling of the population.
Because mining played such a huge economic role for the economy of McDermitt, it’s no surprise that upon the closure of the mercury mines the economy crashed and population decreased. At one point holding four mercury mines (Bretz, Opalite, Cordero, and McDermitt), once the mercury industry ran dry the mines eventually closed one by one, with the last one closing being McDermitt in 1990. From 1933 to 1989, these four mines were the largest producers of mercury in the U.S. These mines provided the lifeblood of the community, and their closure resulted in a sharp loss in economy and population.
While the mercury mines provided many jobs and played a pivotal role in McDermitt’s economy, it did not come without consequence to the inhabitants. In an effort to create roads and other infrastructure, residents used waste ore from the abandoned mines. This waste ore was high in calcite, a mercury mineral, and such calcite in the roads created an environment of toxicity. The EPA was called in to remove the calcite the inundated everywhere, from private driveways to school football fields. Once the removal was finished, 10,000 tons of calcine was put back into the mines while 40,000 tons had to be capped in place as it was too dangerous to remove. This costed 1.2 million dollars, though the money came from the EPA Superfund, not from the surrounding community which could have in no way supported such expensive removal.
Site #2 – Almadén, Spain
Almadén is a city located in the province of Ciudad Real and located south of Madrid. It is a relatively smaller town with a population of approximately 6,000 people. Its name actually derives from the Arabic word alma’din which means ‘the mine.’ Almadén has become one of the top reserves in the world for cinnabar because of its volcano activity. With such a large amount of cinnabar within Almadén, the town has become a location of the highest amount of liquid mercury production in the world measuring at about 250,000 metric tons of mercury in 2,000 years (Wikipedia. Almadén).
Almadén has been revered for its mercury production since the mid 16th century when amalgamation became popular in the Americas. Amalgamation is the use of mercury to extract metals out of silver and gold. Although there was high demand for the mercury resources at the time, finding workers willing to work in the mind proved difficult. Workers were reluctant to join in the mining of the mercury because of how dangerous the conditions were. With very few workers choosing such a dangerous work opportunity, they started using convicts or forzados to serve out their sentences through labor instead. Between from the mid to late 16th century, about 24% of the men, a majority working in the furnaces, died before they were released due to mercury poisoning. Once technology was able to make mining safer in the early to mid 1800s, free labor workers started taking an interest in the mines and due to the lack of being able to hold all of the criminals and multiple fires within the mine, the mine moved away from slave labor.
Besides losing the Almadén mine to a bank from 1835 to 1863, Almadén remained a profit hub for Spain up until the price for mercury reached its peak at $571 in 1965 then dropped rapidly to $121 by 1976. Although the Spanish Government created a company to run the mine, by 2000 the mines were closed with demand and the price for mercury dropping so low and the government was forced to turn the mines into a museum.
Comparison & Conclusion
Although mercury was once a mineral in high demand, due to the health effects attributed with mercury and the decline in the worth of mercury, it has lost its demand as well. Mercury became difficult to sustain as an industry when the price for mercury declined $450 within an 11 year period. The mines closing in both McDermitt and Almadén had effects on the local economies of these places because the distribution and mining was forced to end. As other countries stopped relying on the mines for mercury distribution, the income that was previously coming in to support the local economy could no longer be relied on and therefore these places had to turn to other avenues in order to support their economies. The Almadén mining site has found a way to focus on the history of mercury and uses the museum as a way to still pull in some funds from the otherwise out of commission mines.
As shown through the sites, mercury is an unreliable mineral. Although there are still some uses for it such as in neon signs, mercury is no longer relied on like it was in the past. The health effects can be fatal coupled with such dangerous the mining techniques proved these effects to heavily outweigh the benefits of using mercury in products.
Although both sites of mining have closed down, the economic effects of mercury in the past were substantial to both locations. This shows that even though mercury may not have this effect now, when the health dangers were unknown, it was a highly sought after mineral. Unfortunately, the health effects seem that they will restrict the mineral from being used in many products in the future.
References
“Almadén.” Wikipedia. February 23, 2017. Accessed February 28, 2017. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almad%C3%A9n.
Carrasco , Javier, F. “Bustamante Furnaces at night.” Digital image. World Heritage Convention. June 1, 2009. Accessed February 27, 2017.
Centre, UNESCO World Heritage. “Documents.” UNESCO World Heritage Centre – Document – Puerta de Carlos IV. December 1, 2007. Accessed February 28, 2017. http://whc.unesco.org/en/documents/117405.
FotoDomingo. “Taller San Aquilino.” Digital image. Heritage of Mercury. Almadén and Idrija. June 1, 2007. Accessed February 27, 2017. whc.unesco.org/en/documents/117407.
“McDermitt, Nevada–Oregon.” Wikipedia. February 23, 2017. Accessed February 28, 2017. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDermitt%2C_Nevada%E2%80%93Oregon.
“Mercury.” 3. What are the impacts of mercury on the environment? Accessed February 28, 2017. http://www.greenfacts.org/en/mercury/l-3/mercury-3.htm.
“Mercury (element).” Wikipedia. February 22, 2017. Accessed February 28, 2017. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_(element)#Medicine.
“Mercury poisoning.” Wikipedia. February 24, 2017. Accessed February 28, 2017. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_poisoning.
“Minerals.net.” Cinnabar: The mercury mineral cinnabar: information and pictures. Accessed February 28, 2017. http://www.minerals.net/mineral/cinnabar.aspx.
Rep. No. Mineral Commodity Summaries-MERCURY at 2 (2014).
Writer, DEE HOLZELMining Quarterly Staff. “EPA’s $1.2 million cleanup in McDermitt completed: 10,000 tons of calcine taken home to Cordero.” Elko Daily Free Press. January 01, 2014. Accessed February 28, 2017. http://elkodaily.com/mining/epa-s-million-cleanup-in-mcdermitt-completed-tons-of-calcine/article_f323ee16-734a-11e3-b558-001a4bcf887a.html.