What is Eco-Silver?
A guide to understanding questions like: Where does silver come from? How is eco-friendly silver made? How is it different to normal silver?
Where does Silver come from?
Silver is found in native form very rarely as nuggets, but more usually combined with sulfur, arsenic, antimony, or chlorine and in various ores such as argentite (Ag2S) and chlorargyrite ("horn silver," AgCl).
The principal sources of silver are copper, copper-nickel, gold, lead, and lead-zinc ores obtained from Canada, (such as Cobalt, Ontario); Mexico (such as Batopilas); Peru; Bolivia; Australia; and the United States.
Mexico was the world's largest silver producer in 2010. According to the Silver Institute, it produced 128.6 million troy ounces (3,999 metric tons) in 2010, about 17 percent of the annual production of the world. In 2010, total global mine production of silver was approximately 735 million troy ounces.
Silver is mine from lode and placer deposits and is often co-mined with gold and sulphide ores (copper, lead and zinc).
New Technologies For Silver Recycling
At Eco925 we are always looking for new and more environmentally efficient ways to produce our silver jewellery. Keeping up to date with the latest developments such as; Silver being found in various waste streams, for example waste from electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), scrap metals, spent catalysts, jewellery and silverware waste, spent plating solutions and photographic waste.
Processes for recovering silver are well established for certain waste materials (e.g photographic waste and jewellery scrap) and continues to improve for newer streams, such as WEEE. As these new processes develop you will be sure to find them being incorporated into lowering our business's carbon footprint where ever possible.
As previously mentioned Silver rarely forms in nuggets, but when it does, this is what it looks like. Pure Silver is highly prone to tarnishing by reacting to the sulphides in the atmosphere, leaving a gray/black residue. Certain polishes and solutions are able to remove tarnishing. See our Jewellery care page for more information.
Where does our Silver come from?
Our silver is made of 99% recycled and scrap silver products. By melting down Silver items that have been sold for bullion and reforming them into sheet metal and wire Eco-Silver. Eco-Silver can be both treated and worked with in the same way as newly mine silver for the same quality results but is far more environmentally friendly.
On the 1% occasion we do need to use new material, Eco925 have committed to using only fair trade silver as fair trade registered goldsmiths.