Raw silver describes the metal in its natural, unprocessed state before it has been purified or refined. This material is typically found mixed with rock, dirt, and other minerals. What is extracted from a mine is seldom the bright, shiny metal associated with jewelry or coinage. Instead, the material is a complex mixture of silver atoms, often chemically bonded with other elements or distributed as minor flecks within a larger rock matrix.
Identifying Raw Silver by Sight
The appearance of silver in nature rarely resembles the polished metal familiar to consumers. Pure silver, known as native silver, does occur, but it is uncommon and quickly loses its characteristic luster after exposure to air. When freshly exposed, native silver has a bright, white metallic sheen. However, it rapidly tarnishes to a dull, uneven dark gray or black color due to the creation of silver sulfide from sulfur compounds in the air.
Native silver formations are often found in unusual shapes, such as delicate, branching dendritic masses. When silver is not in its pure state, it is embedded within an ore, which is the most common form in mining. Ore-based silver minerals have a wide range of colors depending on the elements they are bonded with, appearing dark gray, reddish-black, or even waxy white. For instance, argentite, a common silver sulfide ore, is dark gray to black with a dull luster, making it difficult to distinguish from the surrounding rock.
How Silver Occurs in Nature
Silver naturally occurs in two principal forms: as the pure elemental metal (native silver) and as a component of various mineral compounds (silver ore). Native silver is found mostly in hydrothermal veins, deposited by hot, mineral-rich fluids circulating through fractures in the Earth’s crust. While rare, these deposits can yield spectacular specimens of the pure metal.
Most of the world’s commercially viable silver is extracted from silver ore, where the metal is chemically bonded with other elements. The most significant silver compounds are sulfides, such as argentite, and halides. Silver is also often found as a trace component within the ores of other base metals, including lead, zinc, and copper. In fact, the majority of global silver production is obtained as a byproduct when refining lead ore, particularly galena.
Distinguishing Raw from Processed Silver
The fundamental difference between raw and processed silver lies in their purity and physical characteristics. Raw silver, especially ore, contains a very small percentage of the metal, often mixed with a large volume of waste rock and impurities like sulfur, lead, and copper. The processing stage, involving smelting and chemical refining, is necessary to separate the silver atoms from these contaminants.
Processed silver, such as fine silver, is refined to a high purity of 99.9% or higher. This high purity level results in the bright, uniform, and highly reflective metallic luster associated with the metal. Because pure silver is relatively soft and prone to scratching, it is often alloyed with a small amount of copper to create sterling silver. The refined metal exhibits a consistent appearance and greater resistance to wear, contrasting sharply with the dull, inconsistent, and often heavily tarnished appearance of its raw state.