| Silver
History... The earliest references to significant silver mining come from the region of Anatolia (modern day Turkey) around 3000 B.C. Silver from these mines was exported to Asia Minor, then later to Greece. This silver was worked into vessels and coin for the wealthy and actively traded between Asia Minor, the Greek isles and elsewhere. After approximately 1500 B.C., mines in Greece became the leading source of silver after the collapse of the cultures mining silver in Turkey. Greek mining increased the average yearly production to nearly 1 million ounces per year, lasted for nearly 1000 years, and expanded the silver trade from Asia minor and Greece to throughout North Africa.  The next major area of silver production was Spain starting around 500 B.C. and continued for another 1000 years as first the Carthaginians, then the Romans actively mined the area. After 500 A.D., silver discoveries were identified elsewhere on the European continent, such as in Germany, Austria and other locations in eastern Europe, and newer extraction and processing techniques continued to increase the overall production of silver and introduction into the economies of Europe, Asia and Africa. European sources and production of silver significantly expanded throughout the period from 500 A.D. to 1500 A.D., but growth in the overall world production per year was offset somewhat as production from the classical areas in Greece and surrounding areas declined. After the discovery of the Americas around 1500 A.D., silver accumulation and production jumped considerably as hoards of mined silver and the producing mines were taken over by European explorers and conquerors such as the Spanish, French and Portuguese. Bolivia, Peru and Mexico were actively mined and accounted for more than 80 percent of world silver production, between two to three billion ounces between the years of 1500 A.D. and 1800 A.D. The majority of this silver was  transported back to
Europe, which was supplemented from mines in Eastern Europe and Russia, and to
a declining degree mines in Greece and nearby areas.After 1800, while the mines in Mexico and South America continued to produce silver, the United States began to produce significant amounts of silver from discoveries in Nevada, Colorado, Utah, California and Alaska. Around 1850 worldwide silver production was about 50 million ounces per year, and continued to expand as new discoveries were developed and new technologies in extraction and refining were applied, to about 75 million ounces in the late 1880's, then to over 100 - 125 million ounces near the turn of the century. After that discoveries around the world, in Australia, Canada, Central America, Africa and elsewhere continued to augment world silver production, reaching nearly 200 million ounces during the 1920's. Since then, continued development in mining practices, including discovery and drilling, bulk mining and extraction, refinement and separation techniques and methodologies have further expanded worldwide silver production up to the levels currently being recorded today. Further reading and resources... History of Silver Silver Institute The History of Silver The Silver Story History of Silver - esoteric view SilverMedicine.org History of Silver Cambridge Precious Metals 'The History of Silver' by Claude Blair book published 1987 256 pages, available from Amazon |