LONDON (Commodity Online): Silver may not be as precious and hot as gold. But silver has been a safe currency from time immemorial. When silver was first introduced into Egypt, it was considered more valuable than gold.

These days, silver is the white metal, that is considered as a safe commodity bet along with gold. Here is all that you need to know about silver mining from early years.

3000 BC: The first major silver mines were discovered in Anatolia, modern day Turkey.

1st C. AD: Roman discoveries developed Spain into a major silver producer.

Early 1500s: After Columbus’ New World expeditions, the discovery of huge, prolific silver deposits in Mexico, Peru and Bolivia changed the focus of silver mining and enriched the Spanish Empire for 300 years.

1500 – 1875: Approximately 1.5 billion ounces mined in Mexico with the majority produced during the 1700’s.

1700s: The backbone of the Spanish Empire was the one billion ounces of Silver produced from Veta Madre (The Mother Vein) in Guanajuato Mexico (Endeavour Silver has mines hosted in the Veta Madre) .

1857: Silver mining became an important industry in the State of Nevada (The Silver Sate) when the fabled Comstock Lode was discovered.

1859 - 1877: Comstock yielded silver and Gold with a value aproaching $400 million, the equivalent of more than $500 billion today.

1900 – 1920: 50 percent expansion in global production to about 190 million troy ounces annually spurred by discoveries in several countries including Canada, the United States and Mexico.

1921-Present: Improved techniques in ore separation allowed for concentration of silver with lead, Zinc and copper. The explosion in production of these various base-metal sources has led to an increase in both silver output and silver usage.

3000BC- Present: All the silver ever mined would fit in a 55 metre cube.

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