Zinc, lead and silver
Zinc, lead, and silver are not the metals most mined in Southern Norway, but in the Espeland mine in Ettedalen, Vegårshei there was mining in the 1880s and 1890s. It was primarily silver they were looking for, and the mineral galena, which is a lead sulphide and the most important lead ore, contains significant amounts of silver. There is a whole range of sulphide minerals that occur together in this deposit. The specimen on display is sphalerite with small amounts of galena.
Silver is one of the earliest metals to be used. Most famous is its use in silverware, jewellery and coins, but today it has many other useful uses. It is the metal that best conducts electricity and heat, it is highly malleable and highly corrosion resistant in air and water. Sulphur compounds oxidize silver and give it a discoloration. Silver halides are very light sensitive and are used in photographic film.
Lead is a soft, heavy, and toxic metal with a dull gray colour. It is used, among other things, in lead batteries, as a sinker in fishing gear, a colouring agent in ceramics, in ammunition, as protection against radioactive radiation, as an additive in lead glass and in various alloys.
Zinc is the 4th most used metal after iron, aluminum and copper. It is used for galvanizing steel to protect the steel from corrosion, in alloys such as brass and aluminum alloys, for pipes in church organs and as printing plates in the graphic industry. Zinc oxide is used as a white pigment in paint. Zinc is important in the diet and is found in meat and cereal products.