/biz/ - Business & Finance

>>27221526


Up until the 1600s, they didn't have the means to separate Silver from Copper ore. Nor gold. So when you find copper ballast bricks from old ship wrecks, they can contain up to 20% gold.

Silver is from the Platinum Group Metals and is often a byproduct of copper and gold smelting. However, Silver mining usually takes place near known gold reserves. This falls into place with the notion that silver was deposited (along with gold) onto the Earth's surface with asteroid bombardment during the early formation of the planet.

Either way, virtually all known sources of Silver have been mined to the point of exhaustion. Gold has been detected at greater depth (kilometers) below the surface but Silver is just about ready to run out.