Industrial+and+Artistic+Technology-Spanish+Empire+Early+Ages

Industrial and Artistic Technology

Refining Technique [|*] --silver was extensively mined using the mercury amalgamation technique --mercury amalgamation was used to seperate silver from low grade ore which was commonly found in mexico. --the mercury that was needed for this process was readily available due to large deposits back in mainland spain

How Mercury Amalgamation Worked [|*] -- unpure silver ore was mixed with mercury and then spread on a table -- the mercury would stick to the silver and all the unpurities would get washed away with water -- then the mercury and silver mix would get put in a bag made of cowhide -- because the mercury was still a liquid at room temperature it would seep out of the cowhide --leaving the silver in the bag

Current Refining Technique [|*] --Parkes process used to get silver out of lead -- is similar to the mercury amalgamation technique -- silver and lead are melted and melted zinc is added -- the silver is much more attracted to the zinc than it is to the lead -- the zinc and lead form a seperate layer and are easily removed -- the mix is then heated until the zinc evaporates and leaves almost completely pure silver.

The Rise of The People – the Early Years