Copper Applications in Metallurgy of Copper & Copper Alloys

By Vin Calcutt

The Copper Age | The Bronze Age | The Middle Ages and Later | Mining

Copper minerals and ores are found in both igneous and sedimentary rocks. Mining of
copper ores is carried out using one of two methods.

 Underground mining is achieved by sinking shafts to the appropriate levels and

then driving horizontal tunnels, called adits, to reach the ore. Underground mining
is, however, relatively expensive and is generally limited to rich ores. El Teniente, in
Chile, is the world's largest underground copper mine.
 Open pit mining is employed when the orebodies are extensive, low in grade, and
relatively near the surface, where they can be quarried after removal of overburden.
Chile also boasts the world's largest (in terms of output) open-pit copper
mine, Escondida. The largest copper mine in North America (and the world's largest
man-made excavation) is the Bingham Canyon Mine near Salt Lake City, Utah. A $1.5
billion modernization program completed in 1998 turned Bingham Canyon
into North America's lowest-cost copper producer, a model of operational efficiency
and environmental compliance.

Copper is found in the earth's crust and the oceans although the amount in the latter is
thought to be negligible, amounting to no more than about eight months mine production
at present-day rates. The upper 10 kilometers of the crust is thought to contain an average
of about 33 ppm of copper. For commercial exploitation, copper deposits generally need to
be in excess of 0.5% copper, and preferably over 2%. The known reserves of higher-grade
ore in the world amount to nearly 1 billion tons of copper. At the present rate of mine
production, which is about 13.9 million tons (12.5 million metric tons) a year, known
reserves of copper could be depleted in about 65 years. However, successful exploration
for new mineral deposits, technological advances in mining and extractive metallurgy
(which enable the exploitation of leaner ores, thereby enlarging the pool of known
reserves) and copper uses (which permit copper to be used more sparingly where larger
quantities were used in the past) and the continued recycling of scrap are likely to forestall
indefinitely depletion of this valuable metal.

For example, in the first mile depth of the crust of the continents, it is estimated that there
is 3x 1018 metric tons of copper diffusely distributed. The relatively concentrated portion of
this copper is only a small fraction of the whole, constituting an estimated 1010 metric tons
in deposits with a grade of 0.25% or more. At current world mine production, this
represents a million years' supply of copper theoretically available in the mineable portion
of the earth's crust.
Table 4 shows some of the most common copper minerals. Some of these have long had a
value in their own right, such as malachite, prized for its unusual and pleasing appearance
and used for millennia in jewelry and ornaments.

Table 4. Copper Minerals

Wt %
Mineral Composition Copper Color Luster

Native
Cu 98+ Copper Red Metallic
copper

Cuprite Cu20 88.8 Red Adamantine

Chalcocite Cu20 79.9 Dark gray Metallic

Chalcopyrite
FexCuyS 10 approx Gold Metallic
(Fools' Gold)

Covellite CuS 66.4 Indigo blue

Bornite Golden brown

Cu5FeS4 63.3 Metallic
(Peacock ore) to copper red

Malachite CuCO3Cu(OH)4 57.5 Bright Green Silky to Earthy

Azurite 2CuCO3Cu(OH)2 55.3 Blue Viterous to adamantine

Antlerite Cu3SO4(OH)4 53.7 Green

Bluish green,
Chrysocolla CuSiO32H2O 36.2 Vitreous to earthy
sky blue, turquoise

Chalcopyrite CuFeS2 34.6 Golden Yellow Metallic to opaque