Silver Occurrence and Extraction

Silver is found in native form, as an alloy with gold, and in ores containing sulfur, arsenic, antimony or chlorine. Ores include argentite (Ag₂S), chlorargyrite (AgCl) which includes horn silver , and pyrargyrite (Ag₃SbS₃). The principal sources of silver are the ores of copper, copper-nickel, lead, and lead-zinc obtained from Peru, Mexico, China, Australia, Chile, Poland and Serbia. Peru and Mexico have been mining silver since 1546 and are still major world producers. Top silver-producing mines are Proaño / Fresnillo (Mexico), Cannington (Queensland, Australia), Dukat (Russia), Uchucchacua (Peru) and Greens Creek mine (Alaska).

The metal is primarily produced through electrolytic copper refining, gold, nickel and zinc refining, and by application of the Parkes process on lead metal obtained from lead ores that contain small amounts of silver. Commercial-grade fine silver is at least 99.9% pure, and purities greater than 99.999% (five 9s) are available. In 2007, Peru was the world’s top producer of silver, closely followed by Mexico, according to the British Geological Survey.

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