8. Mineral Occurrences

8.1 Mineralogy

Unlike gold, which occurs mainly in elemental form in ores, silver is involved in a large number of compounds formed by sulfides and sulfosalts. It is incorporated into their crystal lattice as a result of substitutions with copper, lead and zinc ions. However, a very large number of silver minerals are known (around 200), of which some 60 are the most common. Among these, the most common are native silver, pyrargirite, proustite, tetrahedrite, tennantite and argentojarosite. Selenides, tellurides and halides are less common.

Native...