Silver

This soft, white metal has the highest electrical and thermal conductivity for a metal. Silver has long been viewed as precious and used in currency, jewelry or ornaments, and utensils.

Almost all silver, a lustrous transition metal, is produced as a by-product of gold, lead, zinc and copper mining. Mexico is the largest silver producer with about 80,120,000 troy ounces generated in 2000, which is about 15% of the annual production. Silver is around 70 times more valuable than copper and about 1/50th the price of gold by mass.

Some of its uses today include photographic film, electrical contacts and mirrors.