Poshan silver deposit

The Poshan silver deposit is located 24 km to the north of Tongbo County. As early as Southern Qi (A.D.479~502) of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the mining and smelting of silver was administered by Weishan County and the mine was abandoned at the end of the Ming Dynasty (about 350 years ago).

Before 1949 when the People's Republic of China was founded, limited geological route surveys were done; whereas a great deal of regional geological surveys and ore prospecting were carried out afterwards. In 1975, the No.8 Geological Team of the Shaanxi Bureau of Geology conducted exploration for the Poshan silver deposit and submitted a relevant exploration report, Detailed exploration report of the Poshan silver ore district in Tongbo County, Henan Province, yielding silver reserves of 2,662 tons with a silver grade of 278 g/t.

Altogether 13 orebodies were discovered, which are all of industrial value except No.2 orebody. Of these orebodies, No.1 is the largest one, 1,900 m long and 5.38 m thick with a maximum downward extension of 530 m. In 1985, the China National Non-ferrous Metals Industry Corporation set up the Tongbo Silver Mine to deal with the exploration and utilization of this deposit. The designed daily mining and dressing capacity was 800 tons and the annual output of silver was 50 tons.