Silver is usually recovered from silver ores by roasting the ore in a furnace to convert the sulfides to sulfates and then chemically precipitating metallic silver.

Several metallurgical processes are used to extract silver from ores of other metals. In the amalgamation process, liquid mercury, which forms an amalgam with the silver, is added to the crushed ore.  After the amalgam is washed out of the ore the mercury is removed by distillation, leaving metallic silver.

In lixiviation (separation) methods, the silver is dissolved in a solution of a salt, usually sodium cyanide, after which metallic silver is precipitated by bringing the solution in contact with metallic zinc or aluminium.

For the Parkes process, which is used extensively in separating silver from copper and lead ores, the impure silver obtained in the metallurgical processes is usually refined by electrolytic methods or by cupellation, a process that involves removing impurities by vaporization or absorption.


















source:  Encarta