Copper (Cu)

History of Copper
First discovered and used during the Neolithic Period (New Stone Age).
In its pure form or as an alloy, it is also most important metal in society.
exact time of this discovery not known, but believed to be ~8000 BC.
Native copper is employed as a substitute for stone (Copper Age).
They fashioned crude hammers and knives and later other utensils.
Malleability and Pounding hardened the copper so that more durable
edges resulted.
The early development of copper probably was most advanced in Egypt.
~5000 BC, copper weapons and implements were left in graves.
Bronze Age - Bronze (alloy of copper and Tin), is harder and tougher
than either; it was widely employed to fashion weapons and objects of
art.
 Ores
Principal forms in which copper ores are found include native copper,
porphyry copper, massive deposits, and mixed ores.

The amount of copper in an ore can vary from 0.4 percent to more than 12
percent.

Porphyry Copper deposits, in which the copper materials are more or less
uniformly scattered throughout the rock, account for the greatest tonnage
of metal in the producing areas of the world.

The host rock is porphyry, schist, or other rock.

Massive deposits are of higher metal content but of more limited extent;
they may be oxidized in the upper portion with sulfides lower down. In
mixed ores, Nickel, Zinc, or lead can accompany the copper; when such
ore is mined, these other metals also are refined and sold as by-products.
 Physical Properties of Copper
Color Reddish-Brown metal
Malleability Capable of being shaped or bent
Ductility Easily pulled or stretched into a thin wire
Luster Has a shine or glow
Conductivity Excellent transmission of heat or electricity

Chemical Properties of Copper

Chemical Formula Cu
Toxicity Poisonous in large amounts
Reactivity with water It does not react with water
Readily combines with water and carbon dioxide
Oxidation
producing hydrated copper carbonate
Corrosion Corrodes when exposed to air
General classification of the ore minerals of copper
Copper Ore Copper (percent)*
native copper 99.9
Sulfide ores
chalcocite 79.9
covellite 66.5
chalcopyrite 34.6
bornite 63.3
enargite 48.4
tetrahedrite 34.8
Oxide ores
cuprite 88.8
tenorite 79.9
malachite 57.5
azurite 55.3
*Approximate.
Surfacial oxidation and supergene enrichment
Leaching of valuable elements from the upper parts of
mineral deposits and their precipitation at depth to produce
higher concentrations
An existing mineral deposit can be turned in to a more highly
concentrated mineral deposit by weathering in a process.
Reworking of primary ore deposits remobilizes metals (often
over short distances)
Remarkable weathering processes.
Leaching of sulphides (Cu) close to the surface and depositing
them at depth forming rich blankets of copper
The copper minerals in the upper portions of such deposits
are in general oxides (copper chemically combined with
oxygen), those in the lower levels sulfides (copper with
sulfur).
Schematic section through a copper deposit showing the typical pattern of an upper,
oxidized horizon (the leached or eluvial zone) overlying a more reduced zone of metal
accumulation (the supergene blanket or illuvial zone). The uppermost zone of
ferruginous material, often containing the skeletal outlines of original sulfide minerals,
is known as gossan. The redox barrier may be the water table or simply a rock buffer
Secondary Enrichment - metals leached from the
surface are precipitated below the water table

Upper zone: insoluble iron oxides

left behind
Leaching

Precipitation

Enriched zone: soluble

metal sulfides of Zn, Pb,
Cu, Au, Ag, Hg, Fe

Phelps-Dodge-Morenci open pit copper mine, Clifton, Arizona

 Mining
For lower-grade deposits located near the surface, the open-pit method is the
most practical for the mining of large tonnages of material.
Large track-mounted drills prepare the Ore for blasting, and the broken ore is
hauled to the ore-dressing plant by truck or conveyor.
In underground mining, vertical shafts are sunk well over 1,000 meters (3,300
feet) below the surface, and tunnels are extended to the ore body.
The ore, broken by drilling and blasting, is hoisted through the shaft and
conveyed to the processing plant.
In some cases, primary crushing takes place underground; in others, a ramp and
trucks carry ore to the surface.

Chuquicamata copper mine,

Calama, Chile.
Carbonates
Basic copper Carbonates are formed when an alkaline carbonate is added
to the solution of a copper salt. These compounds, which have a bright
blue or green colour and are used in the preparation of pigments, occur
in nature as the minerals Azurite and Malachite.
 Sulfates

Cupric Sulfate, CuSO4, is the most important salt of copper.

It usually crystallizes as CuSO45H2O and has a bright blue colour.
It is prepared by the treatment of copper oxides with sulfuric acid.
While readily soluble in water, it is insoluble in alcohol.
The anhydrous salt is hygroscopic and is useful as a desiccating agent.
Copper is readily displaced from aqueous solutions of the salt by
metallic iron.
Copper sulfate is the basic salt in the electrolytic refining of copper,
and it also finds wide use in the preparation of pigments.
Oxides
Copper forms two Oxides in accordance with its two valences: Cuprous
Oxide (Cu2O), and Cupric Oxide (CuO).
Cuprous oxide, a red crystalline material, can be produced by
electrolytic or furnace methods. It is reduced readily by hydrogen, carbon
monoxide, charcoal, or iron to metallic copper.
Cupric oxide, a black powder, can be prepared by the ignition of
suitable salts such as the carbonate, the hydroxide, or the nitrate of copper,
or by heating of cuprous oxide. It is soluble in mineral acids and forms
with them blue or green solutions.

Halides
Cuprous Chloride, CuCl, can be prepared by treating metallic copper and
cuprous oxide with hydrochloric acid or by treating metallic copper and
cupric chloride withHCl.
The hydrochloric acid solution of cuprous chloride readily absorbs CO
and Acetylene and is used for this purpose in gas analysis.
 How is copper formed ?
Copper forms as molten rock with small amounts of copper fluid
crystallizes.
As the copper solidifies later than other minerals within the larger rock,
the final deposits have a high concentration.
Copper appears most frequently in deposits in which lead, silver, gold
and zinc are also present.
During the cooling process, large crystals developed, with smaller
ones forming around them are porphyries.
Initially, the amount of copper in the molten rock is fairly small. As the
molten rock cools, the other minerals solidify first, so that the copper
remaining in the fluid elevates in concentration. The process of
crystallization makes the rock shrink, forming cracks, and the fluid that
is left moves into those cracks.

By this point, the fluid contains a great deal of copper, so by the time it
solidifies, it is almost pure copper. The deposits appear when the rocks
on top of them erode, exposing the copper to mining operations.
 Distribution in the World

Although commercial deposits of copper ores occur in almost

every continent, 70 percent of the worlds known reserves are
found in seven countries.

Chile, the US, Russia, Congo (Kinshasa),Peru, Zambia, and

Mexico.

The greatest known reserve of copper ore in one body is the

deposit at El Teneinte mine in Chile. Many lesser deposits are
being exploited, such as those in Canada, China, Australia,
and Europe.
Distribution in India

Singhbhum Copper Belt Bihar

Reports of around 2000 years old working found in SCB.

5 copper mines in SCB from south to north Badia, Mosaboni,

Patharghara, Surda and South Surda.

Occurance of copper also found in Roam-Siddheswar area (Chlorite-

Quarts mineralization), Sikkim border of India.

Rajasthan (districts like Udaipur, Jaipur, etc but Important is the

Khetri in Jhunjunu District 36 million tonnes of ore of 1% Cu),
Alwar series of Delhi System.

Daribo near Alwar series promising 2-6 % of Cu ore in the

Chalcopyrites, Phyrrhotite found in Quartzite.
 Distribution in India Contd

According to Stefanski, the Copper ore deposits at Yongri, Samthar and

Nazeok of Sikkim (carry 7.8% Cu)

In Karnataka state the Districts like Mysore, Chamarajanagar, Bellary,

Bijapur, Chirtadurga (6% Cu), Dharwar, Gulbarga, Hassan also noticed
for copper ore deposits.

In Andhra Pradesh the districts like Cuddapah, Guntur, Kurnool,

Mahbubnagar, Nellore and Nalgonda, etc are known for the Sulphide
deposits like Iron pyrites and lead sulphides.

In Tamil Nadu the districts like Chingleput, Arcot, Thiruchirapalli,

Madurai, Coimbatore, Nilgiris (Zn deposits) and Kanyakumari (Gold
Deposits) have been identified for Copper deposits.