燃气供热设备应急演练:silver history

silver history

Old World Silver (4000 BC - 1500 AD)

The area of Anatolia (modern Turkey) is considered the first major source of mined silver, having provided the resource to craftsman throughout Asia Minor. Silver from the Anatolian region largely served as the source of silver for the Western cultures flourishing in the Near East, Crete, and Greece.

Silver craftsmanship was centered largely in Asia Minor and Greek Islands, along with areas of mainland Greece dominated by the Mycenaean culture. Asia Minor provided most of the supply for the flourishing silver market.

A concentrated effort to mine silver began sometime after 3000 B.C. The first sophisticated processing of silver ore was attributed to the Chaldeans in about 2500 B.C., who used a "cupellation" process to extract silver from lead-silver ores. The need for traditional silver (particularly for the flourishing Minoan and later Mycenaean civilizations) resulted in the location and exploitation of silver deposits in what is now Armenia

After the catastrophic destruction of the Minoan (Cretan) civilization in 1600 B.C. and the decline of the Mycenaean culture around 1200 B.C., the focus of silver production changed. The mines of Laurium (near Athens) became the leading production center and provided silver for the burgeoning Greek civilization. Further, the silver trade throughout Asia Minor and North Africa expanded significantly after the 8th century B.C.

The Laurium mines were highly productive; estimates from historical writings and physical evidence from old mine dumps indicate silver production to have been about 1 million troy ounces per year at Laurium during the height if production (600 B.C. to 300 B.C.). In fact, for about 1,000 years ending around the 1st century A.D., the Laurium mines were the largest individual source of world silver production. Outside the Laurium mines, production was concentrated mainly in Asia Minor, Sardinia, other Grecian locations and, to a limited extent, in Asia.

The period following the heyday of Greek mining in Laurium included the Carthaginians’ exploitation of Spanish silver. After the Punic Wars, the Romans replaced the Carthaginians as the exploiters of Spanish silver and extended their silver mining to other areas of continental Europe.

Spanish mines became a critically important source of silver for nearly 1,000 years, thought their exploitation was halted temporarily by the Moorish conquest of Spain in the 8th century A.D. The Spanish mines not only provided a substantial portion of domestic needs of the Roman Empire until 476 A.D. but also served as a critical source of silver for the Asian spice trade. To meet the burgeoning trading requirements, Greece, Asia Minor, and Italy supplemented the Spanish production.

The Moorish invasion of Spain necessitated that the exploitation of silver move to a broader spectrum of countries, principally in Central Europe. Several major silver mine discoveries occurred between 750 and 1200 A.D., including the classic Schemnitz, Rammelsburg, Goslar, and Saxony regions in Germany. Concurrently, discoveries of silver were made in Austria-Hungary and elsewhere in Eastern Europe.

Based on the analysis of available literature and historical records, the production levels from 300 B.C. to 1000 A.D. are not likely to have risen significantly from the estimated 1.5 million troy ounces per year levels of the Laurium mine era. Although mine production in Spain dominated the first 1,000 years A.D., it was balanced by the decline in production at Laurium and Asia Minor. The real expansion in production occurred in the 500-year period from 1000-1500 A.D., when the number of mining locations and, to a lesser extent, the improvements in mining and processing technology occurred.

New World Silver (1500 - 1875)

More significant improvements in technology and discovery of the "New World" in 1492 led to a vast storehouse of mined silver that expanded silver production by nearly an order of magnitude, most particularly in the development of the mercury amalgamation process. The first major exploitation of "New World" silver was in the Potosi district of Bolivia. Although the actual production from Bolivia from 1500 to 1800 A.D. is difficult to quantify accurately, Spanish records indicate that about 1 billion troy ounces were produced in this time-frame. For the same period, about 1.5 billion troy ounces were mined in Mexico with the bulk being mined from 1700 to 1800.

Peru’s production has been more consistent – production averaged more than 3 million troy ounces annually from 1600 through 1800. Historically, the Cerro de Pasco district has been among the leading sources of silver in Peru.

The Spanish produced Mexican silver beginning in the early 1500s. Production increased significantly in the 1700s, averaging about 9 million troy ounces annually.

From 1500 through 1800, Bolivia, Peru and Mexico accounted for over 85 percent of world production and trade. The remaining production in the period was derived largely from Germany, Hungary, and Russia, with lesser amounts from other European countries, Chile, and Japan.

After 1850, several other countries increased production particularly the United States with its discovery of the Comstock Lode in Nevada. Silver production continued worldwide, growing from 40 to 80 million troy ounces annually by the 1870s.

The Rise Of North America (1876 - 1920)

The period from 1876 to 1920 represented an explosion in both technological innovation and exploitation of new regions worldwide. Production over the last quarter of the 19th century quadrupled over the average of the first 75 years to a total of nearly 120 million troy ounces annually.

A good deal of the new production was added from major new discoveries in the U.S., most notably the Comstock Lode area in Nevada, the Leadville district in Colorado and various districts in Utah.

Similarly, new discoveries in Australia, Central America and Europe greatly augmented total world production. The succeeding decades from 1900 to 1920 resulted in another 50 percent expansion in production to about 190 million troy ounces annually. These increases were spurred by discoveries in Canada, the United States, Africa, Mexico, Chile, Japan, and various other countries.

The explosion of technology that enabled steam-assisted drilling, mining, mine dewatering, and improved haulage was a major breakthrough. Further improvements in mining techniques enhanced the ability to handle ore and allowed for exploiting larger volumes of ore that contained silver. For example, the removal of precious metals from zinc by a technique called "fuming" provided a way to separate economically precious metals from moderate-grade complex ores.

The Modern Era (1921 - Present)

安纳托利亚（现代土耳其）地区被认为是开采银的第一个主要来源，提供了整个小亚细亚的资源，以工匠 。这主要是由于蓬勃发展的西方文化在近东，克里特岛和希腊的银源从安纳托利亚地区的银银工艺为中心主要集中在小亚细亚和希腊群岛，伴随着希腊大陆地区迈锡尼文化为主。小亚细亚提供最蓬勃发展的白银市场的供应。某个时候开始集中精力矿银银矿石的第一个先进的处理能力，是公元前3000年后归因于迦勒底约在公元前2500年，谁使用“灰吹法”的过程中提取银铅银矿石。在什么现在是亚美尼亚后的米诺斯文明（克里特岛）在公元前1600年迈锡尼下降的灾难性破坏，导致传统银（尤其是蓬勃发展的米诺斯和后来的迈锡尼文明）中的位置和开采银矿文化大约在公元前1200年，白银生产的重点发生了变化。Laurium（雅典附近）的地雷，成为领先的生产中心和希腊文明的蓬勃发展提供了银。此外，整个小亚细亚和北非银贸易扩大显著后Laurium地雷公元前8世纪高生产力的估计表明，从历史的著作和老矿转储物证已约100万金衡盎司每年白银产量Laurium的高度时，如果生产（公元前600年至公元前300年） 。事实上，大约在公元1世纪左右1000年结束，Laurium地雷世界白银产量最大的单个源。Laurium地雷之外，生产主要集中在一个有限的范围内，在亚洲，小亚细亚，撒丁岛，其他希腊的地点，以下Laurium鼎盛时期的希腊采矿期间，包括迦太基西班牙银元的剥削。布匿战争之后，罗马人取代西班牙银剥削的迦太基和扩展到欧洲大陆的其他地区的银矿开采。西班牙地雷成为极为重要的近1000年的银，以为暂时停止对他们的剥削在公元8世纪，西班牙的摩尔人征服西班牙地雷不仅提供了一个罗马帝国的国内需求大幅一部分，直到公元476年，而且服务的银亚洲的香料贸易的重要来源。为了满足迅速增长的交易需求，希腊，小亚细亚和意大利，补充西班牙的摩尔人入侵西班牙生产。需要开发更广泛的国家，主要是在中欧，银移动。公元750和1200年之间发生的一些主要的银矿发现，包括经典Schemnitz Rammelsburg，戈斯拉尔，并在德国萨克森州的地区。同时，发现银 ??在奥地利，匈牙利和其他东欧。基于现有文献的分析和历史记录，从公元前300年到公元1000年的生产水平是不太可能显著，已由原来估计的1.5万盎司盎司Laurium矿时代，每一年的水平 。虽然在西班牙的煤矿生产为主的首批1000年公元，这是平衡Laurium和小亚细亚生产下降 。在生产真正的扩张发生在从1000至1500年公元500年期间，采矿地点的数量和程度较轻时，发生在采矿和加工技术的改进 。

新世界银（1500 - 1875年）

在1492年的“新世界”的技术和发现更多显著的改善导致的开采银的巨大仓库，近一个数量级，最特别的混汞过程中的发展，为了扩大白银产量。在玻利维亚的波托西地区的第一个“新世界”银的主要开采。虽然来自玻利维亚的实际产量从1500年到1800年是难以准确量化，西班牙的记录显示，在这一时限产生约1亿金衡盎司 。在同一时期，约1.5亿金衡盎司开采批量开采从1700年到1800年在墨西哥，秘鲁的生产已经比较一致的-产量平均超过300万盎司，从1600，每年通过1800年。从历史上看，塞罗-帕斯科区已在秘鲁的银领先来源。西班牙在16世纪初墨西哥银开始 。产量增加明显，在1700年，每年平均约900万盎司。从1500年到1800，玻利维亚，秘鲁和墨西哥占超过85％的世界生产和贸易。在此期间的剩余生产派生主要来自德国，匈牙利和俄罗斯，与来自其他欧洲国家，智利和日本的少量1850年以后，其他几个国家增加生产康斯托克矿脉发现 ，尤其是美国内华达州。白银产量继续全球范围内，由19世纪70年代，每年增长40％至 80万盎司。

在北美的崛起（1876年 - 1920年）

从1876年到1920年期间在世界各地的新的地区技术创新和剥削爆炸。在19世纪的最后一个季度的第75年的平均产量翻了两番以上的共有近120万盎司，每年新生产的一个很好的协议添加新的重大发现，在美国，最显着的康斯托克在内华达州，在科罗拉多州的莱德维尔区和各区在犹他州。洛德面积同样，在澳大利亚，中美洲和欧洲的新发现大大增强了世界总产量。随后的几十年，从1900年到1920年，在另一个生产扩大50％，约190万金衡盎司每年。这些增加刺激发现在加拿大，美国，非洲，墨西哥，智利，日本，以及其他各种国家的爆炸技术，使蒸汽辅助钻井，采矿，矿山脱水，并改善运输是一个重大的突破 。挖掘技术的进一步改进提高处理矿石能力和允许开采矿石，银更大的卷 。例如，贵重金属锌去除所谓的“复明”的一种技术提供了一种经济分开中等档次的复杂矿石贵金属 。

近代（1921 - 至今）

各种允许全球范围内增加生产上个世纪初的进步。这是至关重要的，为世界各地的高品位矿石许多很大程度上是由19世纪末已耗尽。这些进展包括：大量开采在地表和地下的方法，能够处理大量档次较低的基本金属矿石，含有副产品的银的细化提取技术能够分离各种基本金属从矿石集中在改进技术。 改进矿石分离，尤其是浮选（后1910年），允许浓度的银，铅，锌，铜精矿，电解技术，允许炼油厂泥银和其他贱金属易于分离，从而提供了一个日益重要的来源因此，在这些不同的贱金属来源生产在整个20世纪的爆炸导致残留含银的增加产量，并最终成品银银。