Mother Earth and Silver Mining
At Phoenix Silver Design, I feel it's important to use as much of my sourced materials as possible. All of our jewelry is 100% made from vintage flatware and even our beads and pearls come from vintage jewelry and given a new life when possible.
According to the 2020 Minerals Commodity Summary for Silver, in 2019, Silver mines in the US produced approximately 980,000 kilograms of silver - an estimated value of $510 million dollars.
Just in the US alone.
When we purchase a precious piece of jewelry, whether it be made from Brass, Silver or Gold, that these metals have been mined out from the Earth. Often large Silver mining companies will source land far and wide across the globe, selecting locations (often in developing nations) for their next big mine but with limited consultation with the local communities that currently live in that location. The negative effects of opening a mine in a location is quickly overlooked in preference of financial gain.
While opening a mine does offer job opportunities and a good storyline for reality TV (I love it too!), it can also cause conflict within those communities. Mining is more often looked at as a short term gain for long term pain when in comes to the longevity of benefits for a community. Just a few ways mining destroys the earth are listed below:
1. Erosion & Physical Land disturbances
- Contaminates Groundwater & Soil
3. Loss of Biodiversity in an area
- Formation of sinkholes
And that is just the short list. Since there is enough material for my designs already in circulation, I will never cast my own patterns. When we can no longer source a pattern we will move on and retire the old. We really do only have one earth within our reach for now so we must do our part in taking care of her.
