The role of mercury-organic interactions in the hydrothermal transport of mercury

Solubility of metallic mercury in octane, dodecane and toluene at temperatures between 100°C and 200°C

“…The organic solvents investigated in this study are able to dissolve substantially more metallic mercury than water (Krupp, 1988;Fein and Williams-Jones, 1997), which is normally the solvent assumed to transport metals in nature. Indeed, predicted concentrations of mercury are so low in most aqueous liquids, that the latter probably do not represent viable agents for the formation of economic mercury deposits (Fein and Williams-Jones, 1997).…”

“…Despite examples such as these and evidence of appreciable concentrations of Hg in crude oils (up to several 10's of ppm, Wilhelm and Bloom, 2000), little consideration seems to have been given to the possibility that petroleum could be an important medium of mercury transport (cf. Fein and Williams-Jones, 1997). On the contrary, most studies have attributed the formation of mercury deposits to hydrothermal processes, even where a spatial association with hydrocarbons is clearly evident, e.g., the paper of Peabody and Einaudi (1992) for the Culver Baer deposit.…”

First lead isotopic data for cinnabar in the Almadén district (Spain): implications for the genesis of the mercury deposits

“…Direct observation (e.g., ProlLedesma et al, 2002) and experimental evidence (Varekamp and Buseck, 1984;Fein and William-Jones, 1997) indicates that mercury transport in hydrothermal systems is largely promoted by reducing conditions under the presence of organic complexes. The close association of mercury mineralization and organic matter at Almadén suggests that mercury may have been transported in an organic phase.…”

Physical and chemical conditions for the formation of mercuric gold within Au-Hg deposits (thermodynamic modeling)

“…2а). Самородные металлы в восстановленных раство-рах при высоких температурах становятся более устойчивыми в сравнении с их сульфидами (Kolonin & Ptitsyn, 1974;Fein & Williams-Jones, 1997). Мо-дельный раствор при понижении давления (до вели-чины газового насыщения 44.2 бар) при t = 250°C и рН = 3.4 приходит в гетерогенное состояние.…”