Great video. This shows the complexity and rarity of how silver is mined. So the silver squeeze is on! This shows how rare and valuable silver is and how it is undervalued.
Chris Thank you for taking the time to educate the average joe on different minerals and ores and where to find them. I bought a copy of your book and it is very cheap for the amount of information you wrote. After reading I realize how valuable this book is and I would have paid a lot more money because it is worth a lot more than what you ask for it. I dont believe anybody would disagree that your book is way more valuable than what you ask for it. Thanks again for your hard work in publishing this book to educate me. It would be an honor to meet you. David Wilson
Thank you for the video Chris. Decades ago I grew up in southern Arizona. My fathers side arriving in the Tucson area around 1780, and my mothers side in Santa Fe in 1626. My father would tell me about the various mines in the area and I would often go out adventuring. One day I was in my Chevy El Camino with my rifle, and miles from nowhere in the wilderness and I came across a blue-black rock laying on top of the dirt. It was crystaline, each "sand" crystal was about 1/32" on a side. I don't remember if it was cubic or other polygon. It was about the size of my fist and fairly round, very heavy for it's size, and very loosely held together. It held together a little better than a handful of blueblack wet sand formed it into a ball. If I were to strike it against a tree it would break apart into hundreds of pieces.There was a slight sparkle of the crystals in the sunlight, definitely not grey, but a dark blue/black color. When I picked it up it split about in half and I put the larger piece on the vinyl floor of the Camino cab. I basically forgot about for several weeks and motion of the car reduced it almost to a pile of sand. i.e. it made a mess and I tossed it out. Now I was thinking it was Galena, but the reference photo's of Galena had large crystals and a very hard appearance. This stuff would soil your hand as though pick up a piece of charcoal. What are the possible minerals that it could have been? Any guess is better than mine.
Based only on your verbal description there are dozens of possible minerals. It hard to tell minerals from a good photo, pretty much impossible from a verbal description.
New subscriber. Very helpful! I will be purchasing your book. I do have many questions and will try to organize them first. Rock/silver hunting is my new found hobby! Thank you so much.
Thanks for the fascination info. It takes a ton of effort to identify and refine Silver, and it makes me appreciate how easy it is to just buy a Silver bar or coin. I think I'll leave the rest to heartier folks. I spend most of my extra cash on Silver and collect Silver coins, and I think it's important to learn a little about how we get this from the ground. It's not just someone tripping over a 100 kilo lump of silver and yelling "Eureka". But this makes looking at the rocks you find on hikes in a different lens - you might have a piece of Silver ore in your hand!
Chris, I live in southern Arizona, which is very rich in silver ores along with lead, gold and copper. I have always ignored the silver and lead ores just because as a sole prospector I feel it isn’t economically extractable, I primarily concentrate on the gold values. The information you provided has been helpful. A lot of the mines around here are abandoned and known as silver or lead mines. I usually examine these looking for possible higher grade gold deposits. Maybe I need to assay some of the silver/ lead ores also.
Thanks for the info! I live around a lot of gold and silver mines in kern county, CA and i find a lot of stuff out and about that ive always wondered about. This cleared up some things. How do you get specimens tested and extracted? Because trying to figure it out on my own has proven to be a mission! Lol. What you have said in your video about it, keeps getting past me.
Amazon didn't plan it right, so they are temporarily out of stock. They will have more copies back in stock in just a few days. Glad you enjoyed the video.
Hey Chris🙂 Jus wanted to drop ya a hello and help push your rithm along, hopefully. I subscribe to several many gold, meteorite, geology related chanels and although ive seen this particular vid, along with scores of others for past several many yrs, I still love the archives. Youve amassed quite a library of free source info/knowledge and I truly appreciate your willing to do it. Your passion for this subject matter transcends any need for a self righteous deed. Thank you, Chris Ralph, Sir 🙏🇺🇸👈🏻MAGA
Great video Chris and thanks for posting! Once while detecting around an old mining camp in Az. I found a quarter-size raw silver nugget and a button of Ag. The button was found while raking/detecting the bottle dump...miner must have tossed it out accidently with the trash?
I am a district of the country where silver has been found mingled with lead, zinc and copper, but now I think I might have some stuff that might be silver, only its so tiny I can not see it even with a digital microscope with enough clarity to be sure exactly what it is.
I know of a vein of metal ore which I always suspected was Silver. After watching your video I'm even more sure the vein is a silver sulfide. This vein is at least 20 feet long and one spot is visibly exposed, about the diameter of a soccer ball. This vein is also surrounded by mines dated back to the early 1800's. If I send you photos do you think you could give an opinion whether it might be Silver? I've known of this vein over 40 years and never shown it to anyone. The vein is in a pretty remote area, the majority of which is in solid bedrock. I found this vein by accident, walking on the bedrock with a metal detector turned on. This is in Arizona.
Very nice presentation on silver ore. I tried to refine a small chunk of silver chloride ore with no luck. Maybe it wasn't what they said it was. On another note in the ICMJ magazine you said you would try make a formula to strip gold from gold plated objects. Are you still going to do it?? Thanks for the silver video.
@@ChrisRalph That would work for small pins but not for objects with a lot of base metal. In the Jan. issue of ICMJ, you said you would look into a gold plate solvent using a sodium thiosulfate solution. I've been waiting all to find out if you could do it. No pressure, you where probably to busy or forgot about it. Thanks anyway.
I know of them and have operated a few, but at about $35,000 apiece to start, I certainly dont own one. If I did a video on one I'd need to get hold of one. Perhaps one of these days.
Thanks for the info! I live around a lot of gold and silver mines in kern county, CA and i find a lot of stuff out and about that ive always wondered about. This cleared up some things. How do you get specimens tested and extracted? Because trying to figure it out on my own has proven to be a mission! Lol. What you have said in your video about it, keeps getting past me.
Hi Chris! Thank you for such a thorough and informative video. I live in Central NC. I have three creeks that run through my property. I find quartz crystals for days in those creeks. There is one that I can not identify though. It's a milky quartz with orange veining. I've found two nice points and several rocks. My property was part of an old trade path (which you can still see) and I have found so many native artifacts after plowing the garden or round pen. The creeks also have tons of a silver colored fleck (?) in them. I'm thinking this is pyrite. Would you happen to have any ideas about what the orange and white quartz could be? Thanks!
I think I’ve seen some of these silver compound minerals up near an old mining town called Winfield, Co.! Perhaps the miners there , lacking a metal detector and geological ID skills, discarded some of these ores in waste piles! Many of the rocks there are superly heavy although I’m not sure they would sound the detector alarm.
Hey, I am new to identifying different minerals... I seem to find a lot of good material, just not 100% sure what I have. Would you be able to help me figure out what I have, thanks.. love the videos, I've learned a great deal from you.
- I get quite a few people every day who want me to ID their rock and mineral photos. I do not offer a mineral ID service, mostly because it’s not as easy as you think. Usually, minerals cannot be identified from just a picture. Please watch my videos on how to Identify minerals for yourself. Part 1 can be found here: ruclips.net/video/MpkW58ZeQlc/видео.html and Part 2 can be found here: ruclips.net/video/zOWo49X90gA/видео.html and Part 3 can be found here: ruclips.net/video/_ab5NngRlVw/видео.html - Those videos should answer a lot of your questions.
As a GPAA club member I have found a number of specimens of silver ore in Glacial Drift. It's somewhat common while doing recreational gold mining if you know what to watch for.
Hi Chris and thanks alot for this very informative video. I think I've found some Silver ore mixed with lead... The thing is that they look like melted pieces. Heavy like lead but a whole lot different in look!! Dark, shiny crystals for the most parts, some greenish copper looking parts, and what looks like other pebbles stick into them... But what raised my suspicions on Silver content is that, when knocked together, they make the same kind of "blinging" sound that Silver coins usually make when impacting each other! Is it possible that the Silver ore, when not too big (half a golf ball for the biggest ones in my case) that they make that very satisfying "silver clinging" sound? Thank you very much!!
Sorry - I get quite a few people every day who want me to ID their rock and mineral photos. I do not offer a mineral ID service, mostly because it’s not as easy as you think. Usually, minerals cannot be identified from just a picture. Please watch my videos on how to Identify minerals for yourself. Part 1 can be found here: ruclips.net/video/MpkW58ZeQlc/видео.html and Part 2 can be found here: ruclips.net/video/zOWo49X90gA/видео.html and Part 3 can be found here: ruclips.net/video/_ab5NngRlVw/видео.html
Hi Chris ! Thanks for the All the Very Informative Data on Silver & Silver Ore ! Appreciate it and Your Laid Back Style Very Much! I Live in Weiser,Idaho, about 60 Mi. North of Boise, Right on the Snake River ! Parts of this Area have been found to have significant Copper Ore, Would those Areas be a Good place to check for Silver in the Copper Mine Ore Tailings if any ? We also have an Old Mercury Mine in the Hills Behind town ! Thanks again ! Scotty ! ( Byron Scott )
Great informative video. Im lucky enough to live 6 hours from the old Cobalt mining area up in Ontario. I've amassed quite the collection of native silver. Most is mixed metal with Cobalt, Nickeline and secondary arsenides. Im sure you have some. 😁
The Grosh Bros. discovered the Comstock Lode. In a letter home that survived, one of the brothers told his parents back east that they had found several lodes, one of them "a perfect monster of a lode." They knew it to be a great silver lode.
CHRIS thanks for uploading the presentation on silver,and looking at your slides of different specimens you have concluded my theory on this metal and what it travels with in the geohydrothermal liquid mixes which it congregates with due entirely on temperature,i've concluded that gold, beings it liquefies at higher temp than silver and platinum it is just a smaller by product of movement in the rivers of superheated water mix that moves the metals and the other sauce,this explains gems and their congregation of other valuable stones all together,due to high temp leaching,thank you very much,you have found my missing link to my theory,i've seen strange samples out of the northern Arizona and southern tip areas around nev,coupled with the weird shaped sample of ribbon gold I found in el cajon area,its making sense now,thanks again
that explains a lot, I never set thru a college course for geology,many books,but talking about this topic is a classroom setting would have been helpful,so it is about the water,i got thinking ,its rained 100000 times in a couple hundred thousand years,magma makes a move and superheats the rain water 100's of feet down and it can't escape fast enough so it superheats and moves all of the metals In suspension and runs it in veins till it cools,pay streak,thanks CHRIS,makes sense
I realize that platinum is rare, but is silver easily confused with platinum when it's found ? How much heavier would platinum be than silver? Nice presentation! Thank you!
Did you know your audio on your videos is only coming out of the left channel? Meaning only the left speaker/headphone has sound. Try setting your video render settings to Mono Audio that should fix it. Love your videos! Your book Fists full of Gold has sat in my amazon wish list for a couple years. After stumbling across your great videos recently I finally was motivated to purchase it!
You got confused because there are more than one mine named 16 to one. One is in Nevada. Another is in Aleghany. The Nevada one produced silver ores. The California one produces gold ores.
Hello Chris I would love to talk to you when you have a little free time. I think my sister and myself may have came across some oxidized silver/gold and possibly iron ore. I was wondering if you would have a spare moment to give me your expert opinion. We really enjoy your videos!!! Thank you!
Hi Kayla - Please watch my videos on how to identify minerals. Start out with the first one: ruclips.net/video/MpkW58ZeQlc/видео.html I get contacted by so many people every day who want me to help them with a variety of things that I just cannot offer personal consulting or a service to ID mineral pictures. Best of luck to you.
The picture at 21:19 is what I've seen quite a bit of, but never thought it to have anything to do with Silver. I'll be paying more attention in the future.
Hi my name is Lisa. I was at my dad's property and found rocks that I just thought were pretty. I thought it was petrified wood but watching your video about silver ore. I have lots of questions.
Hi Lisa - I'm sorry, but I get quite a few people every day who want me to ID their rock and mineral photos. I do not offer a mineral ID service, mostly because it’s not as easy as you think. Usually, minerals cannot be identified from just a picture. Please watch my videos on how to Identify minerals for yourself. Part 1 can be found here: ruclips.net/video/MpkW58ZeQlc/видео.html and Part 2 can be found here: ruclips.net/video/zOWo49X90gA/видео.html and Part 3 can be found here: ruclips.net/video/_ab5NngRlVw/видео.html - Those videos should answer a lot of your questions.
I once visited what was reputed to be 2 silver mines east of Missoula, MT. and a bit north of a small town of Clinton, MT. The ore that I saw didn't look anything like all of your examples. What I saw and handled was chunks of rock that was sandy and gray/black with small streaks of a blue/green running through it. These were hard rock mines almost at the top of a mountain. I wonder if I was being spoofed, by my friends, about sliver and it was really mines for copper? ;-)
I talked a lot about gray / black silver ores in that video..... Plus its true that copper and silver are found together sometimes.... No way for me to know if your friends were spoofing you....
Hi Chris, say I have land in Montana and was digging for retaining wall fill and hit a a few good size veins. I need help on verifiing the type of silver and gold I found. I did have it essays at ALS in Nevada. Were can a person have this stuff processed. And get a good return out of it? I do have some pictures of the ore and I am really curious on the types of minerals I have. How can I send them to You with my questions?
Good luck to you in your efforts. I get many requests for help every day and simply do not have time. I have my own projects I want to work on. Read and study to learn. There are very few custom ore processors as it is not a very profitable business.
hi chris, i have some interesting objects that i found in lake erie, is there anyway i can get you to look at them? maybe through your website? thanks, great job on your videos!
Thanks Chris, very interesting. I found a non-ferrous (not magnetic) chunk of something in the Silver City area of Idaho. Heavy for its size but looks rather like rusty iron. I'm hesitant to scrape it or damage it. I've heard you can put silver on an ice cube and it will readily melt into the ice cube. What would that tell me to differentiate from say a melted aluminum beer can? Is there a safe chemical bath i can drop my sample into to clean the surface? Thanks again.
The ice cube is not a test that can tell you anything useful. If it looks like rusty iron, its probably an iron mineral - not all iron minerals are magnetic.
There’s a silver mine in Alaska called Greens Creek that in some spots yields 180oz per ton of silver! I remember reading about it and being totally blown away. Literally pounds of silver per ton of dirt. I still don’t know if I believe it even after reading several articles and keep thinking it must have been a misprint or something but apparently it’s true:)
There are spot in vein is in Nevada that yield more than 500 ounces of silver per ton. See my video on Tonopah. The early ore there ran 300 ounces of silver and about 5 ounces of gold as well! Glad you enjoyed the video.
Chris Ralph, Professional Prospector Thanks Mr Ralph this is a really great series and I’ve always been a fan of your book and forum posts on detector prospector. I try not too watch more than one video a day because it triggers my gold fever too badly and I can’t get out there right now lol. Thanks again for the series.
Could you please enlighten me about shale colors ranging from white, black, brown. It is within the presence of red clay, quartz, and a yellowing leaching out of the groung around it.
Colors dont really mean much. Lots of minerals come in many colors. Watch my videos on how to identify minerals for yourself. Start with - ruclips.net/video/MpkW58ZeQlc/видео.html Best of luck to you.
Chris, thank you for your reply to my previous question. Regarding your story on the Comstock Lode. A story from an old timer that had lived in the Southwest as long as my family: Henry Comstock was perturbed at the blue-black sand that was clogging his rocker in search for gold. Henry was tossing the sand to the side of his dig as tailings trash. Until a Mexican miner, that actually had mining experience, walked past his trash heap and exclaimed "Mucho Plata" i.e. "lots of silver". And, that is why Comstock's next mining claim was named "the Mexican."
😊 makes me happy to think I might be right after chasing some kind of raw Ore for years trying to figure it out but maybe i can leave a photo if I can . My name is Michael
I get quite a few people every day who want me to ID their rock and mineral photos. I do not offer a mineral ID service, mostly because minerals usually cannot be identified from just a picture. Please watch my videos on how to Identify minerals for yourself. Part 1 can be found here: ruclips.net/video/MpkW58ZeQlc/видео.html and Part 2 can be found here: ruclips.net/video/zOWo49X90gA/видео.html and Part 3 can be found here: ruclips.net/video/_ab5NngRlVw/видео.html - Those videos should answer a lot of your questions.
Funny I ran across this today. I have been hunting an intrusive in AZ for gold. Found some nuggets that were born right there but after extensive sleuthing I ran out of nuggets and bedrock came so near surface there's no way I missed a pocket. Argh! Frustrating! Anyway, while just detecting around yesterday I found a very peculiar object. Silverish, heavy, hard. About an oz. Not aluminum and don't scrape like lead so definitely niether. Has some material attached but looking through a loop I can't tell if its smelt glass or matrix. Question I have is there a simple chemical test for native silver?
While I appreciate your video. I do have one question. Do all of these specimens sound off on a metal detector? I know iron sulfides do not, but now I'm wondering about silver sulfides.
Iron sulfides do not show up on a metal detector because they are not metal. Same thing for galena - it's not lead. Same for other sulfides including silver. There are a few odd exceptions but they are rare.
@Chris Ralph I found a specimen of Ruby Silver on my property and was wondering if there are any steps I could take to keep it from changing colors. I thought if I placed it in and airtight plexiglass case with an oxygen exorber? Do you think that would work? 1 3/4in x 1 1/2in x 1 1/4in is the size of the specimen and I believe there is more I have yet to unearth because of it appears to have broken off of a larger sample.
@@ChrisRalph would UV protection on the plexiglass work? I would like to display it, it is attractive, otherwise it will go the way of my jewelry... in the safe and never een. Lol. Btw thank you for share your kn9wledge. I watch and review your video's often. Living in Ca, on the county line of Nevada and Yuba. I have a lot of time and 20 acres off mine 35 acres of the folks next door and BLM Land just minutes away.
They needed the lead for plumbing, and the silver for exchange. If my memories working I think they found some unsmelted pigs of lead and silver mixed, then traced it via isotope analysis to the mines. @@ChrisRalph
I'm curious, do you think silver would be associated with some rare earth mineral? I have never prospected for anything but nature footage, so I've been researching rare earths in particular. I noticed many are the same appearance of these, some even blacken, when exposed to oxygen. The ruby silver is very interesting.
I have rocks in my back yard that is not that different from the ones you showed here. Now what can I do I would send pictures to be sure. But yeah they're very similar.
Thanks for your advice. My question is what do I do with my rock collection if or when it turns out that it is silver or copper might even be gold. I live in Victorville California near Oro Grande where I know theres gold.
My daughters found this rock on the hill in our backyard. Is there any way you could tell me if it's silver? I have no idea where to go to find out. I could send you a picture of it
Sorry - I get quite a few people every day who want me to ID their rock and mineral photos. I do not offer a mineral ID service, mostly because it’s not as easy as you think. Usually, minerals cannot be identified from just a picture. Please watch my videos on how to Identify minerals for yourself. Part 1 can be found here: ruclips.net/video/MpkW58ZeQlc/видео.html and Part 2 can be found here: ruclips.net/video/zOWo49X90gA/видео.html and Part 3 can be found here: ruclips.net/video/_ab5NngRlVw/видео.html
hey chris, can i show you some rocks I have? i feel like i got something important here but cant seem to figure out what... if so where can i send you the pictures? Thanks for the informative video btw...
I get so many, many requests for personal help, advice, training, review, mineral ID, etc. - every day - I simply cannot get involved with all the requests. I have plenty of my own projects to work on. Watch my videos on how to identify minerals for yourself. Start with - ruclips.net/video/MpkW58ZeQlc/видео.html Best of luck to you.
Great video. This shows the complexity and rarity of how silver is mined. So the silver squeeze is on! This shows how rare and valuable silver is and how it is undervalued.
I'm glad you enjoyed the video.
Chris, Your book is everything you said it was and then some. Great book!
Glad you are enjoying it.
Chris Thank you for taking the time to educate the average joe on different minerals and ores and where to find them. I bought a copy of your book and it is very cheap for the amount of information you wrote. After reading I realize how valuable this book is and I would have paid a lot more money because it is worth a lot more than what you ask for it. I dont believe anybody would disagree that your book is way more valuable than what you ask for it. Thanks again for your hard work in publishing this book to educate me. It would be an honor to meet you.
David Wilson
Thanks for the kind words. I used to appear at the GPAA gold shows but they did not have any in 2023.
That "ruby" silver sample was gorgeous looking ... would look great polished up as is ... thanks for your instructional videos.
You are so welcome! I'm glad you enjoyed the video.
Very interesting video....thanks again Chris...!
Thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed the video.
Thank you Chris, for taking the time to educate us, your passion for the theme is legendary!
I'm glad you enjoyed the video.
Thank you Chris for sharing your knowledge
My pleasure! Glad you enjoyed the video.
As you may know, Eva is much more interested in silver than gold. She enjoyed it very much. Thank you.
Its been one of my more popular videos since it came out a few years ago.
very cool video, Chris. Nice lesson on silver Ores.
Thank you for making this video. Wasn't looking for this but finding it was perfectly timed
Glad you enjoyed it.
I learned something today watching this! I’ll be sure and watch more of your videos. You got another subscriber!!!
Very useful information, Thank you. Helps explain some very unimpressive looking ore I collected from a supposedly rich area earlier this summer.
Glad you enjoyed the video and thanks for the kind words.
Great video! Silver is overlooked by 95% of people!
Very true... Glad you enjoyed the video.
cus its worth 95% less
Thank you for this precious information I appreciate all the efforts you have made to better recognize the good stone rich in Silver mineral

Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you for being generous in sharing your knowledge to us.The same are very useful on our adventure- prospecting someday.
Best of luck to you in your future efforts.
Hi chris, can u please help me?
I wish to ask if I can sample some of my silver ores for ur observation and remarks on whether or not it also contains gold.
Very informative, I'm so happy to have found your channel.
Glad it was helpful! - I've got a lot more videos also.
Well done ! I'm excited to view the rest of your videos.
Glad you hear you enjoyed the video. Many more are in the planning stages too.
Oh cool, I have that book. Nice exAMPles of silver in the video.
Very interesting lesson. Thank you
Glad you enjoyed the video.
Need to learn more about Silver, being in Arizona, hopefully I can locate some one of these day.....thanks again, Chris...!
Glad you enjoyed the video.
Very good teacher to a novice....Very interesting....great job.
Thank you! , Glad you liked it.
Thanks for posting this. Id love to find some Colorado Silver someday. Cheers
I'm glad you enjoyed the video. More videos on silver are coming in 2020.
Thank you for the video Chris. Decades ago I grew up in southern Arizona. My fathers side arriving in the Tucson area around 1780, and my mothers side in Santa Fe in 1626. My father would tell me about the various mines in the area and I would often go out adventuring. One day I was in my Chevy El Camino with my rifle, and miles from nowhere in the wilderness and I came across a blue-black rock laying on top of the dirt. It was crystaline, each "sand" crystal was about 1/32" on a side. I don't remember if it was cubic or other polygon. It was about the size of my fist and fairly round, very heavy for it's size, and very loosely held together. It held together a little better than a handful of blueblack wet sand formed it into a ball. If I were to strike it against a tree it would break apart into hundreds of pieces.There was a slight sparkle of the crystals in the sunlight, definitely not grey, but a dark blue/black color. When I picked it up it split about in half and I put the larger piece on the vinyl floor of the Camino cab. I basically forgot about for several weeks and motion of the car reduced it almost to a pile of sand. i.e. it made a mess and I tossed it out. Now I was thinking it was Galena, but the reference photo's of Galena had large crystals and a very hard appearance. This stuff would soil your hand as though pick up a piece of charcoal. What are the possible minerals that it could have been? Any guess is better than mine.
Based only on your verbal description there are dozens of possible minerals. It hard to tell minerals from a good photo, pretty much impossible from a verbal description.
The frog and birds in the backyard are a nice touch
I dont live in the heart of the city.....
Awesome cool information on silver! Not much talked about. Thanks!
Thanks for the kind words. In the coming weeks, I'll add a similar video on Platinum and another on diamonds.
@@ChrisRalph thanks! I'm up in British Columbia and new to gold panning prospecting..ect thanks you give out real information on all your vids..thx
Superior video, Chris. Big thanks for putting it together.
Glad you enjoyed the video and thanks for the kind words.
great video I live and work around Aspen Colorado which is known for Silver. I usually am looking for gold but I love silver too
Glad you enjoyed the video.
South Florida has NO rocks, lol..all coral ..lucky you sir
I'm In southern Ontario near Toronto, there isnt much here either within an hour and a half radius at least
Thanks Chris for sharing all your smarts with us
My pleasure!
New subscriber. Very helpful! I will be purchasing your book. I do have many questions and will try to organize them first. Rock/silver hunting is my new found hobby! Thank you so much.
Sounds great. Thanks.
Thanks for the fascination info. It takes a ton of effort to identify and refine Silver, and it makes me appreciate how easy it is to just buy a Silver bar or coin. I think I'll leave the rest to heartier folks. I spend most of my extra cash on Silver and collect Silver coins, and I think it's important to learn a little about how we get this from the ground. It's not just someone tripping over a 100 kilo lump of silver and yelling "Eureka". But this makes looking at the rocks you find on hikes in a different lens - you might have a piece of Silver ore in your hand!
Knowing more about silver is a good thing.
Chris I enjoy your videos and learning from you.
Glad to hear it
Chris, I live in southern Arizona, which is very rich in silver ores along with lead, gold and copper. I have always ignored the silver and lead ores just because as a sole prospector I feel it isn’t economically extractable, I primarily concentrate on the gold values. The information you provided has been helpful. A lot of the mines around here are abandoned and known as silver or lead mines. I usually examine these looking for possible higher grade gold deposits. Maybe I need to assay some of the silver/ lead ores also.
Can i join you some time im in tucson would love to and 4 eye look then 2
What mines do you go to in AZ?
Don’t forget the specimen market.
Thanks for the info! I live around a lot of gold and silver mines in kern county, CA and i find a lot of stuff out and about that ive always wondered about. This cleared up some things. How do you get specimens tested and extracted? Because trying to figure it out on my own has proven to be a mission! Lol. What you have said in your video about it, keeps getting past me.
Love the video great job and I have to get the book
Amazon didn't plan it right, so they are temporarily out of stock. They will have more copies back in stock in just a few days. Glad you enjoyed the video.
Hey Chris🙂 Jus wanted to drop ya a hello and help push your rithm along, hopefully. I subscribe to several many gold, meteorite, geology related chanels and although ive seen this particular vid, along with scores of others for past several many yrs, I still love the archives. Youve amassed quite a library of free source info/knowledge and I truly appreciate your willing to do it. Your passion for this subject matter transcends any need for a self righteous deed. Thank you, Chris Ralph, Sir 🙏🇺🇸👈🏻MAGA
Thanks. Glad you enjoy the videos!
Good info, on silvers in different forms.
Glad you think so!
very nice thank you I come from the Selkirk mountains of BC the ores are very interesting
Yours is a very interesting part of the planet.
Thank you so much ..to teach how we can look around ..it was truly interesting..
Glad it was helpful!
Great video Chris and thanks for posting! Once while detecting around an old mining camp in Az. I found a quarter-size raw silver nugget and a button of Ag. The button was found while raking/detecting the bottle dump...miner must have tossed it out accidently with the trash?
Glad you enjoyed the video. Sounds like you made some exciting finds.
I am a district of the country where silver has been found mingled with lead, zinc and copper, but now I think I might have some stuff that might be silver, only its so tiny I can not see it even with a digital microscope with enough clarity to be sure exactly what it is.
I know of a vein of metal ore which I always suspected was Silver. After watching your video I'm even more sure the vein is a silver sulfide. This vein is at least 20 feet long and one spot is visibly exposed, about the diameter of a soccer ball. This vein is also surrounded by mines dated back to the early 1800's.
If I send you photos do you think you could give an opinion whether it might be Silver?
I've known of this vein over 40 years and never shown it to anyone. The vein is in a pretty remote area, the majority of which is in solid bedrock. I found this vein by accident, walking on the bedrock with a metal detector turned on. This is in Arizona.
I cant tell from pictures, that is why they have chemical assays. Have your rock tested to see.
@@ChrisRalph I'm going to cut out a section of the vein and have it tested.
Very nice presentation on silver ore. I tried to refine a small chunk of silver chloride ore with no luck. Maybe it wasn't what they said it was. On another note in the ICMJ magazine you said you would try make a formula to strip gold from gold plated objects. Are you still going to do it?? Thanks for the silver video.
I did something like that a couple years back. Hydrochloric with copper chloride will dissolve most metals leaving the gold plate behind.
@@ChrisRalph That would work for small pins but not for objects with a lot of base metal. In the Jan. issue of ICMJ, you said you would look into a gold plate solvent using a sodium thiosulfate solution. I've been waiting all to find out if you could do it. No pressure, you where probably to busy or forgot about it. Thanks anyway.
Fantastic video series! Loved it info packed
Very soon I will be coming out with a similar video on Platinum and platinum ores. Glad you enjoyed the video.
How about a video on X-ray fluorescent (XRF) analyzers?
I know of them and have operated a few, but at about $35,000 apiece to start, I certainly dont own one. If I did a video on one I'd need to get hold of one. Perhaps one of these days.
Thanks for the info! I live around a lot of gold and silver mines in kern county, CA and i find a lot of stuff out and about that ive always wondered about. This cleared up some things. How do you get specimens tested and extracted? Because trying to figure it out on my own has proven to be a mission! Lol. What you have said in your video about it, keeps getting past me.
There are geochemical testing labs also called assay labs that exist and do these tests. You can find some with Google. The testing is not cheap.
Definitely digging this topic 🪨
Glad you enjoyed it.
Hi Chris! Thank you for such a thorough and informative video. I live in Central NC. I have three creeks that run through my property. I find quartz crystals for days in those creeks. There is one that I can not identify though. It's a milky quartz with orange veining. I've found two nice points and several rocks. My property was part of an old trade path (which you can still see) and I have found so many native artifacts after plowing the garden or round pen. The creeks also have tons of a silver colored fleck (?) in them. I'm thinking this is pyrite. Would you happen to have any ideas about what the orange and white quartz could be? Thanks!
Very difficult to ID minerals with a few words or even with photos. See my videos on how to ID minerals for yourself.
Thanks for your hard won knowledge.
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks Chris, fantastic video...!
Glad you enjoyed the video.
I think I’ve seen some of these silver compound minerals up near an old mining town called Winfield, Co.! Perhaps the miners there , lacking a metal detector and geological ID skills, discarded some of these ores in waste piles! Many of the rocks there are superly heavy although I’m not sure they would sound the detector alarm.
Sounds like you need some assays. I'm glad you enjoyed the video.
Hey, I am new to identifying different minerals... I seem to find a lot of good material, just not 100% sure what I have. Would you be able to help me figure out what I have, thanks.. love the videos, I've learned a great deal from you.
- I get quite a few people every day who want me to ID their rock and mineral photos. I do not offer a mineral ID service, mostly because it’s not as easy as you think. Usually, minerals cannot be identified from just a picture. Please watch my videos on how to Identify minerals for yourself. Part 1 can be found here: ruclips.net/video/MpkW58ZeQlc/видео.html and Part 2 can be found here: ruclips.net/video/zOWo49X90gA/видео.html and Part 3 can be found here: ruclips.net/video/_ab5NngRlVw/видео.html - Those videos should answer a lot of your questions.
As a GPAA club member I have found a number of specimens of silver ore in Glacial Drift. It's somewhat common while doing recreational gold mining if you know what to watch for.
Sounds interesting.
Thank you for the lesson.
My pleasure! Glad you enjoyed the video.
Hi Chris and thanks alot for this very informative video.
I think I've found some Silver ore mixed with lead... The thing is that they look like melted pieces. Heavy like lead but a whole lot different in look!! Dark, shiny crystals for the most parts, some greenish copper looking parts, and what looks like other pebbles stick into them...
But what raised my suspicions on Silver content is that, when knocked together, they make the same kind of "blinging" sound that Silver coins usually make when impacting each other!
Is it possible that the Silver ore, when not too big (half a golf ball for the biggest ones in my case) that they make that very satisfying "silver clinging" sound? Thank you very much!!
Sorry - I get quite a few people every day who want me to ID their rock and mineral photos. I do not offer a mineral ID service, mostly because it’s not as easy as you think. Usually, minerals cannot be identified from just a picture. Please watch my videos on how to Identify minerals for yourself. Part 1 can be found here: ruclips.net/video/MpkW58ZeQlc/видео.html and Part 2 can be found here: ruclips.net/video/zOWo49X90gA/видео.html and Part 3 can be found here: ruclips.net/video/_ab5NngRlVw/видео.html
Great video. Question..can the specimens you showed..or can silver ore sound off a metal detector???
Metallic silver will sound off on a metal detector. Most ores are silver containing minerals which will NOT sound off on a metal detector.
I'd like to see a video on silver ore found in the eastern U.S. Thanks for this great video.
I'll put it on my list but I live in the west and way easier to film here.
Hi Chris ! Thanks for the All the Very Informative Data on Silver & Silver Ore ! Appreciate it and Your Laid Back Style Very Much! I Live in Weiser,Idaho, about 60 Mi. North of Boise, Right on the Snake River ! Parts of this Area have been found to have significant Copper Ore, Would those Areas be a Good place to check for Silver in the Copper Mine Ore Tailings if any ? We also have an Old Mercury Mine in the Hills Behind town ! Thanks again ! Scotty ! ( Byron Scott )
Not all copper ore has much silver. Focus on areas with significant historic silver production.
i found that this video contains a lot of great information,,,,
i’m hoping to put this to good use soon!
thanks!
👍
Glad you enjoyed the video.
Great informative video. Im lucky enough to live 6 hours from the old Cobalt mining area up in Ontario. I've amassed quite the collection of native silver. Most is mixed metal with Cobalt, Nickeline and secondary arsenides. Im sure you have some. 😁
Very cool!
The Grosh Bros. discovered the Comstock Lode. In a letter home that survived, one of the brothers told his parents back east that they had found several lodes, one of them "a perfect monster of a lode." They knew it to be a great silver lode.
True, but I dont think they found any of the high grade. It only outcropped at the Ophir.
Thanks for the great knowledge. Great video!
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for the kind words, I'm glad you enjoyed the video.
CHRIS thanks for uploading the presentation on silver,and looking at your slides of different specimens you have concluded my theory on this metal and what it travels with in the geohydrothermal liquid mixes which it congregates with due entirely on temperature,i've concluded that gold, beings it liquefies at higher temp than silver and platinum it is just a smaller by product of movement in the rivers of superheated water mix that moves the metals and the other sauce,this explains gems and their congregation of other valuable stones all together,due to high temp leaching,thank you very much,you have found my missing link to my theory,i've seen strange samples out of the northern Arizona and southern tip areas around nev,coupled with the weird shaped sample of ribbon gold I found in el cajon area,its making sense now,thanks again
Silver and gold actually dissolve in the hot sulfur water, just as sugar dissolves in regular water.
that explains a lot, I never set thru a college course for geology,many books,but talking about this topic is a classroom setting would have been helpful,so it is about the water,i got thinking ,its rained 100000 times in a couple hundred thousand years,magma makes a move and superheats the rain water 100's of feet down and it can't escape fast enough so it superheats and moves all of the metals In suspension and runs it in veins till it cools,pay streak,thanks CHRIS,makes sense
Thanks! Would love to see some of that blue black muck.
Think more in terms of very fine black sand rather than a dark colored clay.
@@ChrisRalph Thanks! Guess Im not sitting on the next Bonanza then!
I realize that platinum is rare, but is silver easily confused with platinum when it's found ? How much heavier would platinum be than silver? Nice presentation! Thank you!
Platinum is almost twice as dense as silver. Metallic silver is rare - most silver is in silver bearing minerals, not as silver metal.
Did you know your audio on your videos is only coming out of the left channel? Meaning only the left speaker/headphone has sound. Try setting your video render settings to Mono Audio that should fix it. Love your videos! Your book Fists full of Gold has sat in my amazon wish list for a couple years. After stumbling across your great videos recently I finally was motivated to purchase it!
Glad you enjoyed the video.
16 to 1 mine is in Allegheny CA I believe. Sierra county. Not nV
You got confused because there are more than one mine named 16 to one. One is in Nevada. Another is in Aleghany. The Nevada one produced silver ores. The California one produces gold ores.
Hello Chris I would love to talk to you when you have a little free time. I think my sister and myself may have came across some oxidized silver/gold and possibly iron ore. I was wondering if you would have a spare moment to give me your expert opinion. We really enjoy your videos!!! Thank you!
Hi Kayla - Please watch my videos on how to identify minerals.
Start out with the first one: ruclips.net/video/MpkW58ZeQlc/видео.html
I get contacted by so many people every day who want me to help them with a variety of things that I just cannot offer personal consulting or a service to ID mineral pictures. Best of luck to you.
@chris ralph, professional prospector Thanks another great video. A masterclass
Thanks for the kind words. In the coming weeks, I'll add a similar video on Platinum and another on diamonds.
The picture at 21:19 is what I've seen quite a bit of, but never thought it to have anything to do with Silver. I'll be paying more attention in the future.
Its hard to identify minerals just with photos. Sometimes several minerals will look similar. Glad you enjoyed the video.
...our silver mine in Canada had/has values up to 19,000 opt Ag...yes, we've found samples of it.
That is a pretty impressive assay!
Hi my name is Lisa. I was at my dad's property and found rocks that I just thought were pretty. I thought it was petrified wood but watching your video about silver ore. I have lots of questions.
Hi Lisa - I'm sorry, but I get quite a few people every day who want me to ID their rock and mineral photos. I do not offer a mineral ID service, mostly because it’s not as easy as you think. Usually, minerals cannot be identified from just a picture. Please watch my videos on how to Identify minerals for yourself. Part 1 can be found here: ruclips.net/video/MpkW58ZeQlc/видео.html and Part 2 can be found here: ruclips.net/video/zOWo49X90gA/видео.html and Part 3 can be found here: ruclips.net/video/_ab5NngRlVw/видео.html - Those videos should answer a lot of your questions.
I once visited what was reputed to be 2 silver mines east of Missoula, MT. and a bit north of a small town of Clinton, MT. The ore that I saw didn't look anything like all of your examples.
What I saw and handled was chunks of rock that was sandy and gray/black with small streaks of a blue/green running through it. These were hard rock mines almost at the top of a mountain. I wonder if I was being spoofed, by my friends, about sliver and it was really mines for copper? ;-)
I talked a lot about gray / black silver ores in that video..... Plus its true that copper and silver are found together sometimes.... No way for me to know if your friends were spoofing you....
@@ChrisRalph That's OK, The stuff I saw just looked different. Thanks for your info and response. ;-)
I’d like to find a piece of the ‘ruby siver’ Such eye Candy!
I'm glad you enjoyed the video.
Hi Chris, say I have land in Montana and was digging for retaining wall fill and hit a a few good size veins. I need help on verifiing the type of silver and gold I found. I did have it essays at ALS in Nevada.
Were can a person have this stuff processed. And get a good return out of it? I do have some pictures of the ore and I am really curious on the types of minerals I have. How can I send them to You with my questions?
Good luck to you in your efforts. I get many requests for help every day and simply do not have time. I have my own projects I want to work on. Read and study to learn. There are very few custom ore processors as it is not a very profitable business.
Thanks for an informative video.
Glad it was helpful!
my left ear loved this video
although right feels very lonely
Its possible your system needs adjusting to hear in both ears. Its not true stereo.
hi chris, i have some interesting objects that i found in lake erie, is there anyway i can get you to look at them? maybe through your website? thanks, great job on your videos!
Identifying minerals from photos is nearly impossible, so I do not offer a photo ID service.
Damn I did find silver in my backyard. Thanks from Arizona
good luck to you.
Thanks Chris, very interesting. I found a non-ferrous (not magnetic) chunk of something in the Silver City area of Idaho. Heavy for its size but looks rather like rusty iron. I'm hesitant to scrape it or damage it. I've heard you can put silver on an ice cube and it will readily melt into the ice cube. What would that tell me to differentiate from say a melted aluminum beer can? Is there a safe chemical bath i can drop my sample into to clean the surface? Thanks again.
The ice cube is not a test that can tell you anything useful. If it looks like rusty iron, its probably an iron mineral - not all iron minerals are magnetic.
Thank you
very useful
35:08 do you agree that a lot of those nuggets could be found only in rivers !!!!???
Not really.
Who else came here cause they may of found silver ore but is not a professional.. so needed to learn more ways to identify it
Get a chemical assay and then you will know for sure.
I really liked the video by the way.
Great. Glad you enjoyed it.
There’s a silver mine in Alaska called Greens Creek that in some spots yields 180oz per ton of silver! I remember reading about it and being totally blown away. Literally pounds of silver per ton of dirt. I still don’t know if I believe it even after reading several articles and keep thinking it must have been a misprint or something but apparently it’s true:)
There are spot in vein is in Nevada that yield more than 500 ounces of silver per ton. See my video on Tonopah. The early ore there ran 300 ounces of silver and about 5 ounces of gold as well! Glad you enjoyed the video.
Chris Ralph, Professional Prospector Thanks Mr Ralph this is a really great series and I’ve always been a fan of your book and forum posts on detector prospector. I try not too watch more than one video a day because it triggers my gold fever too badly and I can’t get out there right now lol. Thanks again for the series.
Great video kinda confusing but I'm less than a novice. Great video 👍👍👍
Glad you enjoyed it.
Could you please enlighten me about shale colors ranging from white, black, brown. It is within the presence of red clay, quartz, and a yellowing leaching out of the groung around it.
Colors dont really mean much. Lots of minerals come in many colors. Watch my videos on how to identify minerals for yourself. Start with - ruclips.net/video/MpkW58ZeQlc/видео.html Best of luck to you.
Chris, thank you for your reply to my previous question. Regarding your story on the Comstock Lode. A story from an old timer that had lived in the Southwest as long as my family: Henry Comstock was perturbed at the blue-black sand that was clogging his rocker in search for gold. Henry was tossing the sand to the side of his dig as tailings trash. Until a Mexican miner, that actually had mining experience, walked past his trash heap and exclaimed "Mucho Plata" i.e. "lots of silver". And, that is why Comstock's next mining claim was named "the Mexican."
Glad you liked the video.
😊 makes me happy to think I might be right after chasing some kind of raw Ore for years trying to figure it out but maybe i can leave a photo if I can . My name is Michael
I get quite a few people every day who want me to ID their rock and mineral photos. I do not offer a mineral ID service, mostly because minerals usually cannot be identified from just a picture. Please watch my videos on how to Identify minerals for yourself. Part 1 can be found here: ruclips.net/video/MpkW58ZeQlc/видео.html and Part 2 can be found here: ruclips.net/video/zOWo49X90gA/видео.html and Part 3 can be found here: ruclips.net/video/_ab5NngRlVw/видео.html - Those videos should answer a lot of your questions.
Funny I ran across this today. I have been hunting an intrusive in AZ for gold. Found some nuggets that were born right there but after extensive sleuthing I ran out of nuggets and bedrock came so near surface there's no way I missed a pocket. Argh! Frustrating!
Anyway, while just detecting around yesterday I found a very peculiar object. Silverish, heavy, hard. About an oz. Not aluminum and don't scrape like lead so definitely niether. Has some material attached but looking through a loop I can't tell if its smelt glass or matrix. Question I have is there a simple chemical test for native silver?
Not that I know of - all are destructive tests using acid.
While I appreciate your video. I do have one question. Do all of these specimens sound off on a metal detector? I know iron sulfides do not, but now I'm wondering about silver sulfides.
Iron sulfides do not show up on a metal detector because they are not metal. Same thing for galena - it's not lead. Same for other sulfides including silver. There are a few odd exceptions but they are rare.
@Chris Ralph I found a specimen of Ruby Silver on my property and was wondering if there are any steps I could take to keep it from changing colors. I thought if I placed it in and airtight plexiglass case with an oxygen exorber? Do you think that would work? 1 3/4in x 1 1/2in x 1 1/4in is the size of the specimen and I believe there is more I have yet to unearth because of it appears to have broken off of a larger sample.
Airtight and in the dark - the light converts a small part of the ruby silver to metallic silver which darkens the specimen.
@@ChrisRalph would UV protection on the plexiglass work? I would like to display it, it is attractive, otherwise it will go the way of my jewelry... in the safe and never een. Lol. Btw thank you for share your kn9wledge. I watch and review your video's often. Living in Ca, on the county line of Nevada and Yuba. I have a lot of time and 20 acres off mine 35 acres of the folks next door and BLM Land just minutes away.
I dont know the wave length that causes the problem - so no idea of UV only would do the trick. Lots of gold gold in both Yuba and Nevada counties.
Great job on the video !!!!
Glad you hear you enjoyed the video.
my left ear enjoyed the video
Adjust your headphone sound.....
One of the reasons The Romans conquered The British Isles, was for the high grade galena ore mining in the West Midlands. And for Tin from Cornwall.
Yes, very true.
They needed the lead for plumbing, and the silver for exchange. If my memories working I think they found some unsmelted pigs of lead and silver mixed, then traced it via isotope analysis to the mines. @@ChrisRalph
I'm curious, do you think silver would be associated with some rare earth mineral? I have never prospected for anything but nature footage, so I've been researching rare earths in particular. I noticed many are the same appearance of these, some even blacken, when exposed to oxygen. The ruby silver is very interesting.
I get my information here
ruclips.net/user/Thoisoi2
But he never shows the bearing ore.
They would not be associated.
Idaho being the Gem State. Does it have Silver? I think I may have found some but it looks like it may be mixed with iron lead and Galena.
Yes. Google Idaho silver mines to find out about the many silver rushes in Idaho.
Gold dust is found by placer miners. Does silver occur as grey dust or sand washed down by rivers to form silver sand deposits along the banks?
Did you not watch the video you are commenting on? Silver is only rarely found as the metal but is mostly in silver bearing minerals.
Very educational Thanks
Thank you for the kind words! Glad it was helpful!
Great job very good video thank you much !!
Glad you liked it!
I have rocks in my back yard that is not that different from the ones you showed here. Now what can I do I would send pictures to be sure. But yeah they're very similar.
I dont offer a mineral ID service. Check out my video on Mineral identification and learn the skills of identifying minerals.
Thanks for your advice. My question is what do I do with my rock collection if or when it turns out that it is silver or copper might even be gold. I live in Victorville California near Oro Grande where I know theres gold.
My daughters found this rock on the hill in our backyard. Is there any way you could tell me if it's silver? I have no idea where to go to find out. I could send you a picture of it
Sorry - I get quite a few people every day who want me to ID their rock and mineral photos. I do not offer a mineral ID service, mostly because it’s not as easy as you think. Usually, minerals cannot be identified from just a picture. Please watch my videos on how to Identify minerals for yourself. Part 1 can be found here: ruclips.net/video/MpkW58ZeQlc/видео.html and Part 2 can be found here: ruclips.net/video/zOWo49X90gA/видео.html and Part 3 can be found here: ruclips.net/video/_ab5NngRlVw/видео.html
hey chris, can i show you some rocks I have? i feel like i got something important here but cant seem to figure out what... if so where can i send you the pictures? Thanks for the informative video btw...
I get so many, many requests for personal help, advice, training, review, mineral ID, etc. - every day - I simply cannot get involved with all the requests. I have plenty of my own projects to work on. Watch my videos on how to identify minerals for yourself. Start with - ruclips.net/video/MpkW58ZeQlc/видео.html Best of luck to you.