Importance of Silver

We chemically define Silver by placing it in the Periodic table of the elements under Atomic Number 47, comprising Group IB, and counting on the assignment of the symbol Ag (comes from the word Argentum, which in Latin means Brilliant or White) being, as its name indicates, a very bright white Metal, quite malleable.

In the nature we find it in the presence of other minerals, although it is also possible to find it as Free Silver, which is very scarce in the nature, so most of it is obtained as a by-product of Zinc Deposits, Copper Mines or even those Gold Deposits, in addition to being able to be accompanied by Lead, being treated metallurgically through the technique of Cyanidation.

It is also considered that its name derives from the Latin word Platus, which originally had its application to refer to Flat Surfaces, and later it derived in its application to the Sheets of Metal, later evolving to this metal, finding the word Prata with similar formations, in Portuguese.

As a metal, it has high Malleable properties, offering greater hardness than Gold, as well as being a ductile material, which stands out for a Whitish Metallic Gloss, which it stands out even more if we perform a slight polishing, maintaining the same even before the actions of Water and Air, although it tends to distort slightly in contact with Sulfur of

As an Electrical Conductor, like its power as a Thermal Conductor, it is the one with the highest performance of metals, although its application has been seen prevented precisely because of its high cost, being very rare to be found in Electrical Installations, also offering among its physical qualities a very high Index of Reflection.

In regards to your Applications, most of the silver extracted worldwide is used in the industry, used as a compound of the Industry Photographic (in emulsions used on photographic paper, for example) as well as in Medicine and fundamentally in the electronics, in the creation of computer inputs, while only a third of it is used in Goldsmithing.