[ProtectOurFreedom]

Thanks for posting this. It's fascinating history. I had no idea that mercury was used by the Maya.

In Santa Clara County, CA, we have the New Almaden mine that was named after the Almaden mercury mine in Spain. The (old) Almadén, Spain mine had operated since at least Roman times. It is now the Almaden Quicksilver County Park and has some spectacular hiking. You still see cinnabar ore outcroppings all over the place. The mine was a major player in the California Gold Rush as the mercury creates an amalgam with gold to remove the gold from the crushed rock.

By 1863, the mine was a huge operation:

Today, there are three ghost towns there and an old retort that stopped operating in the 1970s. You can still see the rotary ore furnace and the condensers that condensed the mercury vapor. Unfortunately it is falling into ruins and much of it will collapse in the coming years.

[nickcarraway]

Of course, the Maya Mercury. I think the Mercury Comet was their favorite muscle car.

[nickcarraway]

On a serious note, I'm glad you brought up AQCP. The mercury from the mine was necessary for the Gold Rush =, to purify, the gold. There is another abandoned mercury mine about an hour South of AQCP called New Idria. Both Almaden and Idria Were the largest mercury nines in Spain.

Almaden is from Arabic - from the time Spain was occupied by the Moors.

And the 34 miles of hiking trails are great.