Do you prefer gold or silver? Either ore.
Despite the fact that the largest silver nugget ever found weighed about the same as an adult bison, it is believed that all the silver in the world could fit into a 55 by 55 meter cube. Interestingly, this cube is larger than the gold one, which is also quite surprising.
In addition to appearing in many jewelry, coins, and even your grandmother’s old knives and forks, silver is also extremely useful in medicine and electronics. In fact, over half of the world’s silver demand is believed to come from industrial applications.
Almost every computer, phone and car contains some silver; it can also be used in silver ink such as radio frequency identification device (RFID) chips. This shiny precious metal might even be hanging around your neck as you read this.
So how much silver is there?
In 2018 it was estimated that over 1.6 million tons of silver have been found throughout history. All this silver would fit into a cube measuring 55 meters on each side.
However, since silver is second in the world of shiny metals, it is much easier to lose or throw away compared to gold and estimates suggest that almost 50% of this silver has been lost or used in industry.
According to The Silver Institute, silver began to be mined in Anatolia around 3000 BC. in what is now Turkey, then mining progressed to Greece in 1200 BC. and even supplied silver for coinage in Athens. Much later, in AD 100, most silver mining was done in Spain, where the metal was a trade item along with fragrant spices. Much later, silver was discovered in America, and production increased from about 1.1 million to 2.2 million kilograms (2.5 million to 5 million pounds) per year by the 1870s.
Currently, the world’s largest producer of silver is Mexico, with around 5,600 tonnes produced in 2020. Globally, nearly 25,000 tonnes of silver were produced in 2020, with Peru, China, Russia and Chile being the other big contributors .
While a 55 by 55 meter cube might not seem like much, there is still quite a lot of silver in there. Peru is believed to have the world’s largest silver reserves at around 93,000 million tonnes, while Australia and Poland round out the top spot.
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