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Copper
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Copper
Copper can be traced back as early as 10,000 years ago when it was likely used as a source of decorative material. Archeologists unearthed a copper pendant which dated from 8,700 B.C. in Northern Iraq. The Copper Age followed the Stone Age and the early uses of copper probably resulted from the natural occurrence of copper being exposed in its native form.
Around 3000 B.C., large deposits of copper ore were discovered on the Island of Cyprus. Copper mineral has been part of man's early existence. When the Romans conquered Cyprus, they gave a Latin name aes cyprium to the metal, often shortened to cyprium. Later the name was changed to cuprum, from which the English word copper and the chemical symbol Cu were derived.
Copper is one of the basic chemical elements. In its nearly pure state, copper is a reddish-orange metal. Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (Latin: cuprum) with the atomic number 29. Copper is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is rather soft and malleable and its freshly exposed surface has a pinkish or peachy colour with a rather pungent odour.
Copper Minerals
Pure copper is rarely found in nature and is usually found combined with other chemicals in the form of Copper Ores. There are approximately 15 copper ores commercially mined in over 40 countries around the world. The most common ores are known as sulfide ores in which the copper is chemically bonded with sulfur. The other ores are oxide ores, carbonate ores, or mixed ores depending on the chemicals present. Many copper ores also contain significant quantities of gold, silver, nickel and other valuable metals.
The average grade of copper ores in the 21st century is below 0.6% Cu, with a proportion of ore minerals being less than 2% of the total volume of the ore rock.
Extracting the Copper
A key objective in the treatment of Copper ore is the separation of ore minerals from gangue minerals within the rock. Each process consists of several steps in which unwanted materials are physically or chemically removed and later the concentration of copper is progressively increased. Some of these steps are conducted at the mine site itself, while others may be conducted at separate facilities.
Concentrating
Copper ore usually contains a large amount of dirt, clay and a variety of non-copper bearing minerals. The first step is to remove some of this waste material. This process is called concentrating and is usually done by the floatation method. Once the copper has been concentrated, it can be turned into pure copper cathode in two different ways - Leaching & Electro-winning or Smelting and Electrolytic. Because electrical applications require a very low level of impurities, copper is one of the few common metals that are refined to almost 100% purity.
Applications
Since 900 B.C., people have been using products derived from Copper and its ore. The demand for copper mainly comes from the electrical and electronics industries. Almost 42% of the share is absorbed by the Electrical & Electronics sector. It is believed that 80% of the copper ever produced is still in use and continues to be recycled and repeatedly used without losing its property.
The usage of Copper can be significantly categorised as below:
In the Communication Sector: Copper products are being used for both long and short-range cables, wires, pipes and links. Copper is also widely used in making of PCB (Printed Circuit Board) for computers and electronic equipments.
In Electricity & Energy Sector: Copper is the best conductor of electricity and heat. It can be easily transformed to alloy i.e. combined with another metal to make new alloys like bronze and brass. These alloys are stronger, harder, and resistant to corrosion as compared to pure copper.
In Plumbing and Heating: Copper tubes are the standard plumbing material for water and heating systems. It is a preferred material of professional plumbers and heating engineers.
In Transport industry: Copper is used extensively in automobiles, trains and trucks. It is also used in heat transfer devices such as radiators, oil coolers as well as in bronze sleeve bearings.
In Coinage: Various countries like European Union, United States, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand use Copper to make coins.
As a fungicide: Copper (II) sulfate is used as a fungicide and for algae control in domestic lakes and ponds. It is used in gardening powders and sprays.
Sources
The main countries producing copper ore are Chile and United States. The other countries producing Copper ores are Indonesia, Australia, Peru, Russia, Canada, China, Poland, Kazakhstan, Zambia and Congo.
General Properties
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Copper Minerals
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Usage by Industry
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