THAT certainly SOUNDS like 'spellsilver' is one particular element on the Periodic Table.  A series of chemical reactions like that is one that filters atoms by which chemical reactions they participate in, which goes by the behavior of their electron shells and orbitals.

If this were a novel, Keltham would be figuring out how to get a known number of atoms of spellsilver, into some measuring-volume he can weigh, precisely relative to Civilization's known weights and measures that he would have cleverly recovered by various means, so that he could figure out the atomic weight, thence the atomic number, then deploy his encyclopedic knowledge of how best to mine every single element.

Since Keltham has not memorized how to mine every element, he's not actually prioritizing figuring out which element this is.

Questions immediately to mind:

Which part of this process is the most expensive one - finding new sand deposits, the cost of acid, the cost of labor?

Is the purity of the resulting metal important - is there such a thing as higher-purity spellsilver that's more expensive and useful for more powerful magic?

Do they know that bone is itself mostly made of a mixture of two other elements, and have they tried each of those two elements separately?

Can spellsilver be magnetized?

Anybody tried messing with this process by running currents of ordered lightning through it?

Does magic get used on any step?

What's everything that's already been tried that doesn't work?

THAT certainly SOUNDS like 'spellsilver' is one particular element on the Periodic Table.  A series of chemical reactions like that is one that filters atoms by which chemical reactions they participate in, which goes by the behavior of their electron shells and orbitals.

If this were a novel, Keltham would be figuring out how to get a known number of atoms of spellsilver, into some measuring-volume he can weigh, precisely relative to Civilization's known weights and measures that he would have cleverly recovered by various means, so that he could figure out the atomic weight, thence the atomic number, then deploy his encyclopedic knowledge of how best to mine every single element.

Since Keltham has not memorized how to mine every element, he's not actually prioritizing figuring out which element this is.

Questions immediately to mind:

Which part of this process is the most expensive one - finding new sand deposits, the cost of acid, the cost of labor?

Is the purity of the resulting metal important - is there such a thing as higher-purity spellsilver that's more expensive and useful for more powerful magic?

Do they know that bone is itself mostly made of a mixture of two other elements, and have they tried each of those two elements separately?

Can spellsilver be magnetized?

Anybody tried messing with this process by running currents of ordered lightning through it?

Does magic get used on any step?

What's everything that's already been tried that doesn't work?

THAT certainly SOUNDS like 'spellsilver' is one particular element on the Periodic Table.  A series of chemical reactions like that is one that filters atoms by which chemical reactions they participate in, which goes by the behavior of their electron shells and orbitals.

If this were a novel, Keltham would be figuring out how to get a known number of atoms of spellsilver, into some measuring-volume he can weigh, precisely relative to Civilization's known weights and measures that he would have cleverly recovered by various means, so that he could figure out the atomic weight, thence the atomic number, then deploy his encyclopedic knowledge of how best to mine every single element.

Since Keltham has not memorized how to mine every element, he's not actually prioritizing figuring out which element this is.

Questions immediately to mind:

Which part of this process is the most expensive one - finding new sand deposits, the cost of acid, the cost of labor?

Is the purity of the resulting metal important - is there such a thing as higher-purity spellsilver that's more expensive and useful for more powerful magic?

Are there any other kinds or variants known of spellsilver?

Do they know that bone is itself mostly made of a mixture of two other elements, and have they tried each of those two elements separately?

Can spellsilver be magnetized?

Anybody tried messing with this process by running currents of ordered lightning through it?

Does magic get used on any step?

What's everything that's already been tried that doesn't work?