History of Silver Mining

Silver was first properly mined and refined around 2500 B.C. in the area of modern day Armenia. This production provided silver for the craftsmen of the Minoan and Mycenaean civilisations.

The silver mines of Athens in Greece picked up silver production when the Minoan and Mycenaean civilisations died and disappeared around 1300 B.C. and became the main centre for silver production. The silver mines of Laurium supplied silver to the Greek civilisation which was rapidly growing at this time. Around this time, silver trade routes thoughout Asia Minor and Africa grew dramatically.

At the height of production the silver mines of Laurium were producing around 1.5 million troy ounces of silver per year making them the largest silver mines in the world at that time and for a centuries to come.

Over time, Spanish silver mines began to gain dominance in silver production. Despite wars the Spanish silver mines were the dominant suppliers of silver to the Roman civilisation and were also major players in the exchange of silver for spices in Asian trade routes. As demand for silver grew and outstripped even the massive Spanish silver mines, Greece, Asia Minor, and Italy also joined in silver production. Later, Germany and Eastern Europe began to supply increasing amounts of silver to the world economy.

Even when the Eastern European silver mines came into production the total silver output probably never exceeded the silver production at the height of the Laurium mines.

After 1492 and the "discovery" of the New World, various advances in silver production and technology led to massive increases in silver production. In Bolivia alone, in the 200 years from 1600 to 1800, around 1 billion troy ounces of silver were produced and in only 100 years Mexican mines produced 1.5 billion troy ounces of silver. Peru also has been a major supplier of silver producing around 3 million troy ounces of silver per year between 1600 and 1800.

In the 1800's, America joined the list of countries producing silver with a significant deposit being found at Comstock Lode in Nevada.

Silver production worldwide grew to around 80 million troy ounces in 1870.