Solveeit Logo

Question

Question: How is Silver Extracted?...

How is Silver Extracted?

Explanation

Solution

Silver is a chemical element with an atomic number 4747 and a symbol AgAg. It is the softest, whitest, and most lustrous transition metal, with the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal.

Complete answer:
Smelting or chemical leaching can be used to extract silver from its ore. The ore is treated with mercury amalgamation to extract silver from it.
After being extracted from a mine, silver ore is crushed into a fine powder. Smelting or chemical leaching are two methods used to extract silver from powdered ore. The melting point of silver is 962C{{962}^{{}^\circ }}C. As a result, industrial metallurgical processes are required to prepare silver for commercial applications. Mercury amalgamation is used to treat ore, such as in the patio or pan process.
Parting is a common method for extracting metallic silver. This is accomplished by dissolving a gold alloy (less than 3030% gold) and boiling it with 3030% nitric acid. The process of boiling silver and gold in concentrated sulfuric acid is known as affination. This is what separates silver from gold.
Silver is also produced during the electrolytic refining of copper and the Parkes process on lead metal obtained from lead ores containing trace amounts of silver. Commercial-grade fine silver is at least 99.999.9% pure silver, with purities exceeding 99.99999.999 the percent available.
Thus, Silver is extracted by using the process of Smelting or chemical leaching.

Note:
Silver-bearing ore typically contains only a trace of silver, with much higher concentrations of copper and lead. As a result, the majority of silver produced is refined from sulfide ores containing small amounts of silver, such as galena (lead) or chalcopyrite (copper). Many of these ores are mined for their sulfide ores, and silver is extracted as a valuable byproduct; however, some ores are mined explicitly for their silver value.