Early Silver Supply in Central and Northern Europe

Early Silver Supply in Central and Northern Europe 

As in all mines at this time, the rock was broken up by a method which involved heating it with fire and then pouring water over it. The following description from 1642 recounts the hard conditions for miners in Sala, but is certainly typical for all mines in the time before the use of explosives. 

After midday at five o clock they make a fire. Then all the workers climb up, out of the mine. In the nighttime, at one o clock, two men go down to put out the fire. When they pour out the water on the fire a smoke of moisture and sulfur rises straight up, for which they cannot remain standing but must throw themselves down to the floor It is a dangerous work and so detrimental to their health that those men who take this job do not live for a long time. Yet, they are paid much better than other laborers in the mine.  

From the old careful Swedish mining statistics we can see that from the start and up to 1920 as much as 189 173 kg metallic silver was produced. Mining continued with reduced activity after World War II but stopped in 1962. For some years in the 1950s, a labor force of 15 men could armuaUy produce as much silver as 1000 people did during the palmy days of the 16 century. 

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