Quemari Tin

This article is adapted from the entry "Tin" in The Sâryan Encyclopedia, Cárshǒhl University Press, 22nd edition (716).

The island of Quemar is mostly known for being rocky and remote, but since at least the -600s it has been one of the major tin sources in the southeastern Vèkyan sphere. Quemari tin was renowned for its high quality, both under the Hlorasan empire and as an independent state, and it was the island’s primary export both to continental Vèkya and the island of Tílthoría . Alongside the tin industry came the production of pewter, using some of the lead that was a by-product of silver mining.
While Quemari tin in general has a good reputation, the higher grades were certified by Quemari officials. The distinctive imprint of a serpent or dragon (originally a sea-dragon) was recognized as a stamp of high quality even beyond the borders of the Hlorasan empire.

Geography

As with most tin in the region, Quemari tin is extracted from cassiterite, usually in alluvial or eluvial deposits, since the granite and quartz it was part of was simply too hard for ore extraction to be viable. While the backbone of Quemar is cassiterite-bearing granite, these accessible, concentrated deposits are largely found on the relatively gentle north and west parts of the island otherwise used as pasture, which were also protected from the previous glaciation.

History

The exploitation of Quemari tin seems to have begun about the time Célibríans started travelling to the island in the early -600s, though whether it began independently before their arrival or was prompted by a Célibrían desire for the tin there has not yet been established. The earliest tin extraction was done by hand-picking, panning, or streaming alluvial and eluvial deposits. The distinctive shallow scars from the streaming extraction method are still visible today on pasture land throughout the north and west of Quemar, where the tin ore was concentrated.
The Hlorasan empire’s massive demand for tin—primarily for bronze-making—gradually led to the decline of known mainland deposits, and the empire increasingly sourced its tin from Quemar. The earliest known example of serpent-stamped Quemari tin dates to the late -430s, though the mark could have been established earlier. Stamp mills or trip hammers were recorded there in the -380s, and open pit mining was adopted in the particularly rich region surrounding Krestigzir as surface deposits were exhausted in the late -100s.

Type

Metal

Related Locations

• Quemar
• Krestigzir