Silver ore?

[G.I.B.]

I'm hoping someone can shed some light on this.

I found this chunk of silver in the Tampa area at a site known for the early exploration of the Spanish.

This chunk of silver is 4.4 ounces and is verified as silver with an acid test.

It doesn't appear to be molded/melted into any kind of shape, so I'm wondering if it's possibly unrefined ore. If so, I would suspect the origin to be somewhere in the North Americas based on it's location, and movement of early Spanish explorers.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

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[releventchair]

Not gospel ,as usual. Depends on source of research as to accuracy.
Chunks of "native" silver, those that are not embedded or encased in other material were the type desired in early mining. Heck they were available at one time. Your sample might have been smelted from ore but hard telling for me.

Around the mid fifteen hundreds silver was found in lesser grade ores and in smaller sized raw pieces than the types previously smelted. Meaning melted blobs began to be less common over time.
Enough that the patio style type refinement(mercury amalgamation) began to gain acceptance. Followed by other processes.
Still, areas with native silver still existed long after , an example would be in Batopilas in 1709 if discovery was actually then and not before.
The less matrix attached to ore the greater volume of value for transport. A likely factor loading ships .
At times large chunks of raw silver have been encountered after native types had been greatly reduced through discovery like most precious metals, and would likely be reserved from common ores before normal processing.
Who held them and what of their eventual use or destination? Pieces the size of the one on the scale would allow samples as proof of decent silver from a location perhaps. Or someone may have run the risk of concealing it.
Just me, but if mining related raw ore there should be other metals mixed with ores. Copper or gold often found with silver ore, but I'm no specialist...

.

 

[G.I.B.]

Thank you, that helps. I don't know anything about mining or raw minerals other than what I've seen on the internet.

I'm trying to figure out why this chunk of metal exists in the form and shape that it is, whether naturally or man made.

 

[releventchair]

I'm not finding many "lumpy" examples but some exist.

 

[G.I.B.]

Do you know where they came from?

 

[releventchair]

The dog is from Arizona, a detectorist found it. Mountains near Tuscon. Just under twenty pounds weight. The note in the picture says 83% silver.
The tree like piece is from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan..An area copper is often mixed with silver.(From the Kearsarge Lode.)

 

[huntsman53]

I could be wrong but the specimen does not appear to be in it's natural form (i.e. raw)! It appears to be left over slag from smelting which was then left in the elements for a very long time. While the specimen tests good for Silver and likely contains a fair amount of Silver, it is likely mixed with other metals which were also in the host rocks prior to smelting.


Frank

https://www.google.com/search?q=sil...4XnxgIVwZWICh0OzQBr#tbm=isch&q=raw+silver+ore

 

[G.I.B.]

Thank you Frank.

Now I've got to golfer out why it's there, and from whence it came...