Making Silver From Ore I Found In An Abandoned Mine

I’ve wanted to make pure silver as long as I’ve owned an abandoned silver mine. This past week, I found a book published in 1886 that walked through all the different steps. It was raining, so what better thing to do than read up and try to make the first batch of Cerro Gordo silver in a VERY long time. I went back in the mines, collected galena, and set off to take it all the way down to silver, the way they did it back in the 1800s. Turns out, making silver isn’t the easiest thing, but it did bring me a LOT of appreciation for all the miners, smelters, and assayers who called this town home back in the 1800s. Special thanks to Matt P, a volunteer who read this book too and helped make this happen!