Do you know about the oldest metal used by humans? When we talk about the most versatile chemical element used for industrial, electrical, and household work purposes, copper is the widely used metal that will come into your mind. Eventually, this chemical element is the oldest metal, way back more than 10,000 years. The copper metal is highly useful, without this our life will lack quality and value. Due to its extraordinary properties, the demand for copper is expected to rise in the next coming years.
Qualities Of Copper
Copper is associated with aesthetics as it has been used for architecture, sculpture, and jewelry for many years. Some of the major qualities of copper that make it highly valuable include biofouling and corrosion resistance, ease of fabrication, electricity and heat conductivity, mechanical strength, durability, and elasticity. You will find traces of copper in almost every resource. Around 60% of copper is used due to its electrical conductivity, while 21% is due to corrosion resistance. The element has facilitated the efficient development of the electrical industry. It would be interesting to know that copper remains unaffected by various chemical or environmental phenomena. Various processes like rusting, degradation by sunlight or UV rays, ozone attack, formation of non-electrically conducting oxide layer, and low-temperature do not impact copper’s properties.
Copper Mining Methods
Copper is obtained from minerals containing ores. Various electrochemical and physical processes are involved in obtaining copper from its ore which varies from country to country. Local environmental regulations, government acts, and other factors have a huge influence on it. Most importantly, the processing techniques depend upon the nature of the ore. Copper processing includes the extraction of copper from the ores and molding the obtained metal into a usable form. The process begins with mining and concentrating low-grade ores, which are followed by smelting and electrolytic refining. After these processes, the pure copper cathode is produced. The copper ore is mined by two methods which include open-pit and underground mining. However, equipment like shovels, dozers, hauling trucks, and loaders are used in both methods. Read further to know how these two methods are different from each other.
- Open-pit mining: This method is useful in extracting the copper ore near the earth’s surface. Around 90% of copper ores are produced with this method. The creation or usage of benches or terraces is done to reach deeper into the earth’s crust. Bingham Canyon Copper mine located southwest of Salt Lake City in Utah is the world’s largest open-pit copper mine.
- Underground mining: A shaft is dug vertically into the deposit. A horizontal tunnel can also be used. El Teniente is the world’s largest underground copper mine.
At the end of the process, the ore is removed from the mine and transported for purification and refining purposes. There are several companies like TVC.V and BHP working to improve productivity growth and exploration services. The company is serving clients in Canada. The Three Valley Copper stock of a copper mining company is reaching new heights.
Conclusion
Copper production is important for the upliftment of the nation’s economy. We may say that our lives are incomplete without copper. You will find copper not only in resources; even in the human body has some percentage of copper. The demand for copper will keep on increasing in the future.