Silver obtained from metallurgical processes is impure. The parkes method is used in separating silver from lead or copper ores. Silver is precipitated when the solution is brought in contact with metallic aluminum or zinc turnings as illustrated In lixiviation methods, the ore is dissolved in a solution of salt such as sodium cyanide. Mercury is then removed from the amalgam by distillation leaving silver metal. During the amalgamation process, liquid mercury is added to the crushed ore and an amalgam of silver-mercury is formed. A number of metallurgical processes have been used to extract silver from its ore of other metals. This converts the sulfides to sulfates and the metallic silver is precipitated. Metallurgy of silver The recovery of silver from its ores involves roasting the ore in the furnace. Epithermal and mesothermal gold deposits also harbor silver as a by-product. Most deposits in which silver are the main economic mineral are epithermal quartz veins of five element (Ni-Co-As-Ag-Bi) veins. In addition, silver is commonly formed in a wide variety of hydrothermal deposits and is associated with gold and the base metals such as copper, lead and zinc (Addicks 1940). It also has some excess silver in 0.01 to 0.31% weights. Pyrargyrite is known from both deposit types and usually contains an admixture of 0.1 to 0.9% and sometimes Fe, Zn and Se 0.1 to 0.4% weight. Other widespread silver minerals are canfieldite from tin-silver polymetallic deposit type and selenocanfieldite, both hosted by galena ore. The group of high silver Fe-freibergite is pertinent only to sulhostibnite deposit type having two or three known mineral generations and serves as an indicator for high silver ore (Purcell & Peters 1998, pp. Silver bearing tetrahedrite is heterogenous in both deposit types but more heterogenous in sulphostibnite deposit types.

There are three varieties of Fe-freibergite, Ag-Fe-tetrahedrite and Ag-tetrahedrite with the predominance of Ag and Fe. They consist of Fe and Ag bearing tetrahedrite that usually contains Zn admixture.

Silver bearing-fahlores are silver-bearing ores of the volcanogenic deposit type. Silver combines with many elements, it, therefore, occurs as an essential element in over 100 minerals and it is a minor constituent in many more. The main silver-bearing minerals are acanthite and its higher temperature forms argentite, electrum, tetrahedrite, Pyrargyrite and native silver.

Silver chemical symbol