The methods of assaying were supposed to determine the quantity of a given metal in an ore or alloy with one or more other metals.
Probably the latter, since there was no reason to keep the source of the non-existent 'ore' a secret after 1578.
Different panels would reflect the various stages of mechanical production and assembly, from mineral ore in the soil to finished product, driving into the sunset.
The easily worked oxidised ore was largely depleted and the underlying sulfide deposits were proving difficult and costly to treat.
Thus, the markets for ores and minerals in situ do not suffer from the kinds of failure we are alluding to in the text.
These compounds were found in the extraction of metals from ores, assaying, and the reextraction of metals from alloys.
Later chapters cover ores and waste products, diamonds and their histories and the nature of the planetary bodies of the solar system.
Subidioblastic titanite (commonly overgrowing allanite or ore) and ore phases are small (< 1 mm) yet numerous.