Where and how is silver mined?

Silver can undoubtedly be called one of the most common types of precious metals around the world, and various products are created from it, including jewelry, medical and even electronic parts. Various places can be named where there are deposits of this metal, but not in its pure form. Often, raw materials need to be processed in order to remove the silver without impurities. The process of silver mining and processing is laborious, requires serious investments and professionalism.

Silver is formed in mines of various types. Often, metal can be found in vein as well as mineralized zones that are located in the volcanic belt. The ore body lies deep in the strata, and to get to it, special equipment and a large team of specialists are required.

The main source of the noble metal is considered copper and lead-zinc deposits. Copper-pyrite, pyrite-metal and other types of ores can also be ranked among them. The geological setting differs depending on the geographic location and mineral deposits. Gold-silver and silver deposits are located in the Pacific ore belt.

Natural mineral formations contain a significant proportion of this precious metal. A quarter of the total amount of silver is mined from there, followed by polymetallic ores, including copper, cobalt, gold, nickel, in which this noble metal is a by-product.

Silver is considered the next popular precious metal after gold. Experts estimate the entire volume of reserves at about 600 thousand tons. About 20 thousand tons are mined annually, and in 2018 American geologists reported 27 thousand tons. There are only a few countries that are making significant investments in this industry. Two centuries ago, all silver mining was concentrated in South America., and to this day this continent is not inferior to the first position in the world arena in terms of the amount of "white" gold.

Peru is the second largest silver producer after Mexico. Perhaps, these two countries are included in the list of leaders in terms of finding this material on their territory. V Poland there are also deposits of the precious metal in question. Peru and Poland each have 110 thousand tons of silver. But if we talk about production volumes, Mexico is the leader among all. There is a huge number of companies that produce products from precious metal, because there are a lot of raw materials.

More than two hundred mines are actively operating on the territory of Mexico, since a significant amount of silver is mined from there. Large deposits include La Encantado and Las Tores... Deposits in the states of Hidalgo, Chihuahua and Zacatecas make up a fifth of the "white" gold of our planet. Peru is on the same list as Mexico.

Returning to Poland, it should be noted that within Lublin there are large deposits of metal. The Ying region of China contains a third of the country's silver reserves. No wonder this country is considered one of the richest in metal. The silver industry is also developing in cities in India, Argentina, the United States, Australia, Chile and other countries, although not on such a large scale.

As for our country, at the moment the reserves amount to almost 70 thousand tons. The deposits are located in different regions of Russia. In 2019, the leading position was taken by Magadan, where the figure reached 236 tons. The Chukotka Autonomous Okrug was in second place, followed by the Khabarovsk region.

However, mining is also carried out in Yakutia, Buryatia, Krasnoyarsk Territory and Orenburg Regionalthough there are small deposits in these regions. Large amounts of "white" gold are in the depths Dukat hub, which is located in Magadan region.

Lots of silver and in Ozernoye (Republic of Buryatia), therefore, a lot of precious metal products are made there. The total ore reserve reaches 157 million tons, of which about four and a half thousand tons of silver. The pyrite ores of the Urals also contain deposits of precious metals.

It is extremely difficult to find nuggets in nature - this is an exception. The main source of silver is various types of ores. This metal is actively used not only in the jewelry industry, but also in the manufacture of mirrors, the production of medical equipment and even mechanical engineering. At first, silver mining in Russia was not so widespread, since large financial investments were required, which could only be recouped after many years.

It is rather difficult to obtain a substance from an ore; a long and laborious procedure is required., in which different specialists are involved. And since the value of silver is high, it was necessary to develop technologies for high-quality extraction and processing.

The question of how it is mined is of interest to many. The first step is to locate a sitewhere there are reserves of metal. This is done by geologists who carefully study rocks in different regions, use special devices, which are difficult to do without. After them, the miners are taken to work. Necessary put explosives in pre-prepared holes... After the explosion, large fragments of ore rise to the surface with special equipment.

Further it is necessary grind ore to the state of sand. For this, special units are used. The powder is mixed in a container with water and acid. Then the solution is passed through filters, the silver mixture is attracted by the zinc. Gas ovens are used for melting, where in the forms the mixture turns into a liquid substance. Due to its heavy weight, silver settles at the bottom, which is why impurities are easy to remove, because they are on the surface.

As mentioned above, there are many impurities in the ore that need to be removed. Cyanide most popular in such cases. Alkali dissolves the material, then the mixture is filtered. The second way is called amalgamation... Silver combines with mercury to form compounds. When the mercury is squeezed out, the substance becomes solid. The mixture is filtered, as in the first method, the mercury is evaporated, after which ingots are obtained as a result of melting.

Radio parts can become a raw material for obtaining silver. There are elements of this precious metal in TVs, tape recorders and other types of equipment. All other parts must be removed to get started. Samples are dissolved at 60 degrees Celsius in nitric acid. After that, the mixture is poured into hydrochloric acid and heated. It is necessary to stir the composition until it reaches a viscous consistency, then cool and add a little of the same hydrochloric acid so that the precipitate completely falls out. The solution must be left for twelve hours, then filtered, dried and melted by adding baking soda. You can wash off other components with a stream of plain water.

Silver can be called the most unique metal. It has thermal conductivity, chemical resistance, high ductility and other properties. Due to this, it is actively used in electrical engineering, medicine, jewelry, and other industries. Experts say that the world's reserves of the precious metal will last for another twenty years. The demand for silver regularly rises due to the opportunities it provides.

It takes a long time, a lot of work and a lot of investment to get any precious metal. But the same can be said about the processing of raw materials, because several stages are required to obtain the material in the form in which it can be used in industry.

An interesting report on the mining and production of silver is in the video below.