Mercury in the environment
Mercury occurs uncombined in nature to a limited extent. It rarely occurs free in nature and is found mainly in cinnabar ore (HgS) in Spain, Russia, Italy, China and Slovenia. World production of mercury is around 8.000 tonnes per year. Mineable reserves are around 600.000 tonnes.
Mercury is a compound that can be found naturally in the environment. It can be found in metal form, as mercury salts or as organic mercury compounds.