Lead

Lead is a metal that has significance in its use as a roofing material, pipe and for the production of vats and large vessels. It can be sourced from mining in predominantly mountainous regions, such as that of the Silver Mountains in the Arda Valley of the Runic Empire. Due to the relatively low value of lead, it is very often produced in areas in which the ores also contain significant proportions of Silver. Black Ore and White Ore contain enough silver to make such lead extraction viable, though some lead-only mines do exist primarily in areas where fuel is cheap, such as Olfendal in Torania which is surrounded by the plentiful lumber of the Toramett. Even so, many mines of lead, whether they produce lead or lead and silver are often run at a loss and require loans from an interested party to remain viable.   The mining of lead can be a complex process involving many specialist roles, as the ore is extracted, crushed, washed and smelted all on location. A single mine may comprise of an overseer, a boler and their assistants, a furnaceman, blowers, and a smith with their assistants. Not to mention that a mine with an adjacent grove would have a master of the wood and a woodcutting overseer with a team of woodcutters. Shaft mines have even been known to have hired chandlers for the production and use of candles. Despite this, mines that produce lead still do so at rather low rates, for instance: The lead mines of the Surcounty of Manttila on the foothills of the Enares in their entirety, comprising of upwards of twenty independent mines, produce no more than 400 tonnes per annum. An individual miner on average produces roughly 30-40lbs of crushed and washed ore a day.   Lead Ore extracted from its source is initially dressed (sorted by size and by weight), large ore chunks known as "bing" is set to one side while smaller chunks are crushed on a "knocker" stone with a tool known as a "bucket". The crushed or is then settled in a washing trough by a man with a "scrubber" causing heavier lead and lighter limestone to settle out at separate ends. The resultant useable ore is then smelted with the bole, a hearth, that may or may not be upon a turning wooden pedestal, thus a turnbole. The bole produces fertile lead and slag, the former is refined to produce sterile lead and silver while the latter is either discarded or further smelted to produce more lead.