Hi All,
Anyone help me with any available papers on the chemistry of the mining of Lead and Silver,and also Copper.Any papers that detail the chemistry of these metals and their mining both in years past and today,that you can suggest will be gratefully acknowledged.
Thanks again.Please e-mail me on

[email protected]

http://www.pdmhs.com/PDFs/ScannedBulletinArticles/Bulletin%2013-2%20-%20The%20Lumburn%20Leat%20-%20Evidence%20for%20New%20Pumping.pdf 
this one mentions the Combe Martin mines as well
http://www.pdmhs.com/PDFs/ScannedBulletinArticles/Bulletin%2012-3%20-%20Silver-Lead%20-%20A%20Restricted%20Resource%20-%20Techn.pdf 

thinking about it the more chemistry oriented papers will be related to Wheal Jane, they were seperating silver right up until they stopped mining I think. dont have a link for these, maybe contact CSM

If you want to start right at the beginning, there's Agricola's De Re Metallica, or if that's a bit too old, Percy's Metallurgy...

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Hi All,
Anyone help me with any available papers on the chemistry of the mining of Lead and Silver,and also Copper.Any papers that detail the chemistry of these metals and their mining both in years past and today,that you can suggest will be gratefully acknowledged.
Thanks again.Please e-mail me on

[email protected]

I am having difficulty working out what you are asking for, the only chemistry I can think of in the actual "mining" is that of the explosives used. If, however, you are asking for the chemistry of extracting the metal from the ores obtained, then that is a completely different field of study; start with identifying the ores sought after, these vary significantly from area to area, even from mine to mine!, Ridiculous though it may sound, one book I found very useful for identifying mineral ores was The Observer's Book of Rocks and Minerals.
In Derbyshire the main ore for lead was Galena, Lead Sulphide, PbS, the main method of smelting was to raise the temperature significantly to weaken the Pb - S bond and introduce air at the same time to (I suspect) oxidise the sulphur into a gaseous state, thereby leaving the metallic lead behind, which was fluid at the time so flowed into the moulds ("pigs").
This is all supposition, but I do have a chemistry background and I have studied lead mining, I submit this as an indication of what you are letting yourself into when you ask for "the chemistry of the mining" of these metals please be more specific, then perhaps our community specialists will be able to help you more.

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The chemistry of smelting is broadly similar for most metal ores. Firstly, the ore needs to be heated in the presence of oxygen to convert it to the metal oxide, unless it's already an oxide in which case you can skip this step. Copper and lead commonly occur as sulphides or carbonates, so this oxidation process (calcining) is usually done. Silver is commonly intimately associated with lead, so you'd normally smelt the lead first then extract the silver second by cupellation or similar process.

The second stage, which is the actual smelting, is to reduce the oxide to the metal, and in most processes you need carbon monoxide to do this, created by incomplete combustion of the fuel.

Apart from Percy, another good general source book on pre-20th century metallurgy is R.F. Tylecote's "Prehistory of Metallurgy in the British Isles", which generally details the chemical reactions in smelting as well as the process.

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Hi, seeing as you've put this in the south west section of the forum I'd suggest you look for JW Gough's 'Mines of Mendip' for starters, its out of print so a book search might be expensive,

http://ukbookworld.com  both find copies for about £25.

Robin (W)

I got my copy for a fiver off e-fence.

No dust jacket, but I got it for reading, not collecting.

What are you specifically doing this for and what are you aiming to find out and how do you intend to present it?

My background is Inorganic Chemistry both as a nerd and as a teacher. I might come in useful, as some of the mill designers/operators/engineers/etc who are on also this board.

I don't want to say it......but......must....try....harder!

Ex-Spelio, I suppose you could add the various chemical pathways which primary ores face in order to give you various other types....That is very interesting, especially for copper.

The snag that you'll possibly have (OP) is that one book won't fit all. The papers relating to milling and processing will be directed at people who are operating specific machines with their own jargon. They will be very heavy reading, even for a chemistry undergrad. If you are aiming to understand this for your own sanity, or to explain it to other people in a clear manner, I'd avoid any modern text first. There are some classics out there, but if you are in the running for some real arcane modern mill "stuff" it will get hideously complicated.

Contrary to the views of most people, I am a big believer in looking at older texts first. They were designed for the intelligent layman, or at least someone with half a brain and a working knowledge of chemistry. A lot of the more modern stuff is blighted with jargon, arcane bullshit and loads of superly complicated figures which inform a designer of a device with 99.9999% efficiency.

I've got an old book at home, which I will dig out and it is what I consider the definitive text on ores, their occurence, an outline of their in-situ chemistries which have led them to being and a rough guide to how they are won from their associated gunge. It doesn't go into mill design. I can have a look later and find out the exact title. It's a 1956 job, but not much has changed in basic mineral chemistry and separation since then.....apart from it has a lot more digital readouts and the chap who designed it was a panel of eggheads with their own journal, rather than a Fred Dibnah character.

I purposely kept my post simple to illustrate the kind of Minefield (ha ha) the OP was letting himself in for with such a generalised request.

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The Fresnillo District in Zacatecas (Mexico) produces about 40 million ounces of silver per year from a series of Tertiary age veins hosted in Cretaceous greywackes and shales. The argentiferous galena and ruby silver ores extend to over 800 meters depth, and the multiple veins vary from 2 to 20 meters width along several kilometers strike. Grades average 350 g/t silver and 2 to 6 % combined lead-zinc. Ores are mined by longhole and cut and fill stoping, concentrates produced in 2 flotation plants of 8000 and 3000 tons/day capacity. This mine is one of the largest silver producers in the world and employs 1500 people. Current reserves are for 10 years production with resources for an additional 10. There are pictures and info on our website www.fresnilloplc.com Regards David Giles