"Precious Metal Clay, PMC, is an exciting material developed and patented in the 1990s by Mitsubishi Materials of Japan. Microscopic particles of silver are mixed with a moist binder to create a material that has the feel and working properties of modeling clay. Using simple tools, objects are given shape, texture, and character. After air-drying, the objects are heated to temperatures approaching the melting point of the metal, where the particles fuse together to make a dense, fully metallic object. Fired PMC work can be polished, soldered, enameled, and enjoyed like any other silver item. "