Silver mining: methods and techniques, major deposits, leading countries for silver mining

Silver is a unique metal. Its excellent properties - thermal conductivity, chemical resistance, electrical conductivity, high ductility, significant reflectivity and others brought the metal widespread use in jewelry, electrical engineering and in many other industries. For example, mirrors in the old days were made using this precious metal. At the same time, 4/5 of the total amount mined is used in various industries and only 1/5 goes to various jewelry, so loved by the fair sex. Where and how is this precious material mined?

Silver ore

Despite the fact that silver, however, in very small quantities, is found literally everywhere - in water, soil, plants and animals, even in ourselves, there are quite few suitable ores for the extraction of silver and gold, including those with a high metal content. However, there is one pleasant exception - native silver, almost entirely consisting of this metal. The largest nugget in history was found in the US state of Colorado (more than a ton of light silver metal was discovered).

The following silver-containing minerals exist on our planet: electrum, argentite, pyrargerite, kustelite, native silver, proustite, stefanite, bromargerite, freibergite, discrazite, polybasite, argentojarosite, agvilarite.

Mining methods

The first information about silver mined dates back to the seventh millennium BC (in the Syrian region).

For a long time, only the search for silver nuggets was available to people , so it was valued very highly, often more than gold. Now metallurgical production has perfectly mastered the extraction of precious metal from both pure silver and polymetallic ores.

Depending on the depth of silver-containing ores, choose the method of extraction. An open way to extract silver is suitable if the ore is close to the surface of the earth. The closed method is used for deep bedding.

Silver mining technology

First, geological exploration is carried out, according to the results of which it is possible to judge how much metal is contained in a given deposit, how the silver core lies, what is the percentage of metal in it, and so on. To do this, several wells are drilled, and the extracted material is sent to the laboratory for examination.

After geological exploration, a mining plan is outlined. According to this plan, either silver is mined by the open pit method (open pit), or a mine is constructed (closed pit).

In mines, ore is mined either by an automated mining complex or by blasting. In open pit mining, the explosive method is also used, or silver is mined using excavators.

Enrichment methods

To separate silver from the host rock, a silver-containing rock selected from a mine or quarry is crushed in a crusher (this is an industrial unit for grinding solid materials). The crushed rock is further subjected to either amalgation or cyanidation. In the first case, silver dissolves in mercury, in the second - it is mixed with a compound of hydrocyanic acid (cyanide), followed by the release of “pure metal”. Both methods are extremely dangerous for human health due to the toxic properties of mercury and cyanides, so workers are forced to protect their respiratory organs.

Where to mine?

At the global level, there are several leading silver mining countries. About half of the world's silver-containing ore reserves are located in only five countries of the planet. Peru has the largest reserves of precious metal. Here, the explored deposits of silver, according to some estimates, amount to about 120 thousand tons.

In second place, oddly enough, little Poland (85 thousand tons), known for its polymetallic deposits in the city of Lublin, including silver as one of its components. In third place is the Latin American country - Chile (77 thousand tons). On the fourth - the mainland Australia (69 thousand tons). And the honorable fifth place among the leading countries for silver mining in the world is occupied by our state - Russia. In its bowels lie 60 thousand tons of silver.

History of Russian silver

Historians claim that systematic industrial mining of silver in Russia began under Emperor Peter the Great. This was greatly facilitated by the approval of the Order of ore mining and the Decree on "mountain freedom", according to which any free citizen had the right to mine precious metals, minerals and other minerals. Under him, 2 large enterprises mining silver were commissioned - one in the Urals, the second in Altai. Since then, the extraction of precious metal from the bowels has only grown. The maximum growth rate of silver production was in the middle of the 20th century.

At present, enterprises in our country that produce silver metal completely and completely satisfy the need for it both in industry and in jewelry workshops. A significant amount of precious metal is exported.

Russian silver deposits

Stocks of precious metal in Russia are distributed very unevenly. The distribution of stocks by region can be seen in the table.

Silver mining in the Russian Federation

Despite the fact that in very many regions of the Russian Federation there are large reserves of the precious metal, not everywhere it is mined with the same intensity. And this is not surprising, because the economic efficiency of such production depends on a number of factors - this is the percentage of minerals in the ore mined, the remoteness of the area from the transport arteries, specific geological and geographical conditions, etc.

Currently, the undisputed leaders in silver mining are only three rich deposits in the Magadan Region, which produce about half of the total precious metal in our country. Another quarter is brought by the Ural deposits, the remaining quarter falls on other regions of the state. The table below provides data on the amount of precious material mined in various regions of Russia.

Silver will rise in price soon

There is less and less silver, it will soon become more expensive, so you need to urgently buy jewelry - these controversial statements can often be found on the World Wide Web. However, the facts suggest the opposite. Proven reserves are currently sufficient for the coming decades to produce silver in the world. In the foreseeable future no price spikes are planned. In addition, we can expect a decrease in the use of silver in electrical engineering (alternative technologies are being developed, for example, material such as graphene is being increasingly used, processors with optical properties are being designed with might and main).

So, most likely, the noise associated with a decrease in silver mined is just an advertising trick of large jewelry companies interested in creating an unhealthy excitement and increasing turnover. Also, these myths are supported by major players on the exchange of precious metals. The extraction of silver will continue for a very long time, and it will be enough for everyone.