Cinnabar with Dolomite & Quartz

Cinnabar with Dolomite and Quartz from Chatian Mine, Fenghuang County, Hunan Province, China, measuring 56 × 42 × 32 mm and weighing 68 grams. The specimen shows red Cinnabar against paler accompanying minerals, with more than one area of interest across the specimen. The three recorded species make this an association piece with both visual and chemical variety.

Cinnabar is mercury sulphide, whereas Dolomite is a calcium-magnesium carbonate and Quartz is silica. That combination brings together sulphide, carbonate and silicate mineralogy within one supplied assemblage. Cinnabar is characteristically connected with hydrothermal mineralisation, and the accompanying minerals provide useful context when considering it as a geological specimen rather than simply a strongly coloured mineral.

The Chatian Mine attribution is retained with Fenghuang County and Hunan Province, providing a precise geographical setting. At 56 mm in its longest dimension, the specimen remains compact while allowing the red mineral areas and paler surroundings to be compared in the photographs. The interest lies in their recorded association, with each species contributing something different to the piece. This specimen comes from the David Vince Collection. Its appeal combines a defined Chinese mine locality with a clear visual contrast and three distinct mineral identities. For a collector building a group of hydrothermal minerals, it offers an opportunity to look beyond a single ore species and appreciate the accompanying assemblage, with the provenance preserving the later collecting history.