Extraction
Early extraction was started by the Spanish who discovered the process called patio process where you grind a silver-bearing ore and add salt and mercury. They had mules trample the rocks and the name comes from the patio that the mules were tied onto where they crushed the rocks. Due to the warm climate, the silver sulfide reacted with the sodium chloride and they produced silver chloride (AgCl), a silver containing compound. The silver in the compound is represented by the Ag. The silver chloride then reacted with the mercury to from mercury chloride and most importantly, pure silver
Modern extraction is much simpler than the process discovered by the Spanish. We now use a process called cyanidation, a process that takes away silver as a by product of gold production. This is necessary since silver is obtained as a by product from lots of other metal ores. In most cases, you won't extract silver by itself. In cyanidation, the rock that contains silver and gold is crushed and mixed with sodium cyanide which reacts with the elements to make a molecule that had gold, silver and sodium atoms. When finely ground zinc powder is combined with this molecule, it creates a silver and gold alloy. An alloy is a solid metallic solution that contains two or more elements. The alloy is then taken care of to separate the gold and the silver.
Modern extraction is much simpler than the process discovered by the Spanish. We now use a process called cyanidation, a process that takes away silver as a by product of gold production. This is necessary since silver is obtained as a by product from lots of other metal ores. In most cases, you won't extract silver by itself. In cyanidation, the rock that contains silver and gold is crushed and mixed with sodium cyanide which reacts with the elements to make a molecule that had gold, silver and sodium atoms. When finely ground zinc powder is combined with this molecule, it creates a silver and gold alloy. An alloy is a solid metallic solution that contains two or more elements. The alloy is then taken care of to separate the gold and the silver.
Downsides/Harmful Effects
Though silver is used for many different reasons that benefit society such as medicine, jewelry and electronic devices. Silver also has many downsides that hurt society as well. Though silver jewelry is beautiful and very liked by many people, it is also extremely expensive due to the scarcity of silver in the world which leads to corruption. If people don't have the money to buy a necklace, in desperate cases theft might be an option. In crimes such as theft, it mainly occurs when the thief wants something. With silver's price is might be that thing that the thief can't have. Also, fraud might happen when people are trying to gain money by selling fake silver. Since silver is so expensive and rare, you can make a fortune by selling fake silver. This isn't ideal in a humane society, but silver's cost tempts people to make bad choices.
Silver is also dangerous for health reasons. Silver salts are poisonous and toxic and when they come in contact with skin, it will produce a blueish gray color. In a more severe occasion, when silver dust is inhaled, it can severely damage your lungs which can lead to cancer or other bad and deadly lung diseases. Silver inhalation also effects the kidneys and the brain. When the brain is effected, it can lead to seizures. Silver is very dangerous when it is present in the air. Studies show that 0.1 milligrams per cubic meter of silver in the air can be dangerous.
Silver is also dangerous for health reasons. Silver salts are poisonous and toxic and when they come in contact with skin, it will produce a blueish gray color. In a more severe occasion, when silver dust is inhaled, it can severely damage your lungs which can lead to cancer or other bad and deadly lung diseases. Silver inhalation also effects the kidneys and the brain. When the brain is effected, it can lead to seizures. Silver is very dangerous when it is present in the air. Studies show that 0.1 milligrams per cubic meter of silver in the air can be dangerous.
Sustainability
The future of silver depends on the human race's well use of the little silver we have. We have very little silver in comparison to other metals. Since silver is found mostly with other ores, we never get a bunch of pure silver at once. We instead get much less silver and more of that other metal. In the stock market, the stock of silver has been consistently increasing. The stock market is based on two concepts: supply and demand. When a stock has much supply and little demand, it doesn't make a big profit and it's stock ultimately goes down. On the flip side, when there is little supply and much demand, the need is greater for that product and the stock goes up. This is the case for silver. It is so precious and helpful in society that we need it by the buckets, but we unfortunately don't have that. Therefore, we need to make sure we are using silver wisely and attempting to recycle it or we will be losing a very beneficial part to our everyday success due to the scarcity of silver around the world. (See "uses" to learn more about the importance of silver)