Cinnabar Ore

Cinnabar Ore is a metal ore that can be dug up and processed into mercury. It has the same heat capacity and thermal conductivity as other metal ores of its type, making it a useful all-purpose resource for industrial builds, but its phase transition temperature is relatively low at 583.5°C, so it should be avoided in extremely hot environments where it may change state earlier than other metal ores.

It can be refined into mercury by either a Rock Crusher or a Metal Refinery, both of which require a Duplicant to operate. Refining yields depend on the machine used:

• Rock Crusher: 100 kg of Cinnabar Ore becomes 50 kg of mercury and 50 kg of sand.
• Metal Refinery: 100 kg of Cinnabar Ore becomes 100 kg of mercury.

Cinnabar Ore is also a valid food for several critters. It can be fed to Hatches and their variants, as well as to Plug Slugs and their variants. Their consumption and output rates are:

• Hatch variants: consume Cinnabar Ore at 140 kg/cycle and produce 35 kg/cycle.
• Another Hatch variant: consume Cinnabar Ore at 100 kg/cycle and produce 75 kg/cycle.
• Plug Slug variants: consume Cinnabar Ore at 60 kg/cycle and emit 3 kg/cycle.
• Another Plug Slug variant: consume Cinnabar Ore at 30 kg/cycle and emit 1.5 kg/cycle.

For manual use, Duplicants can also build with Cinnabar Ore directly. It takes 50 kg of the ore to produce 1 unit in standard crafting, or 200 kg per unit in the Spaced Out! DLC. Because it serves as both a processable metal ore and a critter food, Cinnabar Ore is often worth stockpiling even when mercury is not an immediate need.

When managing it, the main practical consideration is temperature. Since its phase transition point is much lower than that of many other metal ores, long-term storage in very hot areas is a poor idea. If you need mercury, refining it in a controlled industrial area is safer than leaving large reserves exposed to heat.