mineral that's a single element

 

for this week's prompt of minerals that are one element, i did a quick google search to see what some examples are, and one of them was silver. this felt perfect for me as my ears are sensitive, so my piercings are all either surgical steel or silver. I also have one pair of gold from my very first piercings. 

in the picture to the right, I have said gold stud, a silver plated leaf ring my aunt made, a silver hummingbird ring with turquoise my mom got for me, and a turquoise snake pendant with some other little gems in a silver holder with a silver chain, also from my mom.

these last two pictures are the backsides. on the back of the hummingbird is "MT sterling" and on the back of the pendant "starborn 925" both which show that they are in fact silver. the one on the pendant is a brand marker, but when googled shows that it is sterling silver.

in nature, silver is found in rocks as an ore, and we refine it, and often times, mix it, as needed for various uses. Silver has a high conductivity, so it is often used in electronics, it is used in the process of developing photographs, it is used in medicines, coins, jewelry, and as an alloy. we get silver via mining, as with most ores. 

there are a few big consequences that mining has in regard to the environment. one is that we have to destroy the natural habitats of many animals and plants to create a mine. there's pollution from spills of oil, fuel, and other chemicals that are used in the processes, as well as air pollution from the machinery used in the process and the burning of fuels. and then there's also the issue of drainage and runoff from the mines leaking the acid and such away from the mine itself.

all pictures were taken by me at about 9:30am 4/29/2022