MINERALS TO BEWARE OF Myrickite

Some venomous snakes and stinging wasps and bees advertise their dangerous nature with bold red, yellow, and orange colors that seem to say, “Stay away!”

Jim Brace-Thompson

So, too, do certain toxic minerals, particularly mercury.

Normally, metallic, tin-white mercury often goes by the name cinnabar and is bright red when found as an inclusion in agate. Another variety is vivid orange. This is myrickite, which may occur in agate or opalite. Agatized material tends to be orange-red, whereas opalized varieties are orange against a black background. Both are so vivid they almost seem synthetic.