Editing Copper (section)

==Production==
[[File:Chuquicamata-002.jpg|thumb|left|[[Chuquicamata]], in Chile, is one of the world's largest [[open-pit mining|open pit]] copper [[mining|mines]].]]
[[File:Copper - world production trend.svg|thumb|World production trend]]

{{see also|List of countries by copper production}}

Most copper is mined or [[copper extraction techniques|extracted]] as copper sulfides from large [[open pit mine]]s in [[porphyry copper]] deposits that contain 0.4 to 1.0% copper. Sites include [[Chuquicamata]], in Chile, [[Bingham Canyon Mine]], in Utah, United States, and [[El Chino Mine]], in New Mexico, United States. According to the [[British Geological Survey]], in 2005, Chile was the top producer of copper with at least one-third of the world share followed by the United States, Indonesia and Peru.<ref name="CRC" /> Chile, the world's largest copper producer, supplies the US with 70% of refined copper and alloy imports through 2024. Together with Canada (17%) and Peru (7%), they account for 94% of U.S. copper imports.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schmitz |first=Sophia |date=2025-04-18 |title=Top Copper Suppliers Urge U.S. to Avoid Tariffs, Warn of Global Repercussions |url=https://metals-wire.net/commodities/top-copper-suppliers-urge-u-s-to-avoid-tariffs-warn-of-global-repercussions/ |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=METALS WIRE |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Solomon |first=Daina Beth |date=April 15, 2025 |title=Chile, Canada and Peru push back against Trump's copper tariff probe |url=https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/chile-pushes-back-against-trump-copper-tariff-probe-2025-04-15/ |website=Reuters}}</ref> Copper can also be recovered through the [[in-situ leach]] process. Several sites in the state of Arizona are considered prime candidates for this method.<ref>{{cite web |last=Randazzo |first=Ryan |url=https://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/2011/06/19/20110619copper-new-method-fight.html |title=A new method to harvest copper |publisher=Azcentral.com |date=19 June 2011 |access-date=25 April 2014 |archive-date=22 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110622234817/https://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/2011/06/19/20110619copper-new-method-fight.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The amount of copper in use is increasing and the quantity available is barely sufficient to allow all countries to reach developed world levels of usage.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Metal stocks and sustainability|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=2006|volume=103|issue=5|pages=1209–1214|first1=R.B.|last1=Gordon|first2=M.|last2=Bertram|first3=T.E.|last3=Graedel|doi=10.1073/pnas.0509498103|pmc=1360560|pmid=16432205|bibcode = 2006PNAS..103.1209G|doi-access=free }}</ref> An alternative source of copper for [[Deep sea mining|collection]] currently being researched are [[polymetallic nodules]], which are located at the depths of the [[Pacific Ocean]] approximately 3000–6500 meters below sea level. These nodules contain other valuable metals such as [[cobalt]] and [[nickel]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Beaudoin |first1=Yannick C. |last2=Baker |first2=Elaine |title=Deep Sea Minerals: Manganese Nodules, a physical, biological, environmental and technical review |date=December 2013 |publisher=Secretariat of the Pacific Community |isbn=978-82-7701-119-6 |pages=7–18 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264763450 |access-date=8 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241204095547/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264763450_The_Geology_of_Manganese_Nodules |archive-date=4 December 2024 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Reserves and prices===
Copper has been in use for at least 10,000 years, but more than 95% of all copper ever mined and [[smelting|smelted]] has been extracted since 1900.<ref name="Leonard2006" /> As with many natural resources, the total amount of copper on Earth is vast, with around 10<sup>14</sup> tons in the top kilometer of Earth's crust, which is about 5&nbsp;million years' worth at the current rate of extraction. However, only a tiny fraction of these reserves is economically viable with present-day prices and technologies. Estimates of copper reserves available for mining vary from 25 to 60 years, depending on core assumptions such as the growth rate.<ref>{{cite book|author=Brown, Lester|title=Plan B 2.0: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble|publisher=New York: W.W. Norton|date=2006|page=[https://archive.org/details/planb20rescuingp00brow_0/page/109 109]|isbn=978-0-393-32831-8|url=https://archive.org/details/planb20rescuingp00brow_0|url-access=registration}}</ref> Recycling is a major source of copper in the modern world.<ref name="Leonard2006">{{cite news |last1=Leonard |first1=Andrew |title=Peak copper? |url=https://www.salon.com/2006/03/02/peak_copper/ |access-date=8 March 2022 |work=Salon |date=3 March 2006 |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:Price of Copper.webp|thumb|325px|right|Price of Copper 1959–2022]]
The price of copper is [[Volatility (finance)|volatile]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Schmitz|first=Christopher|title=The Rise of Big Business in the World, Copper Industry 1870–1930|journal=Economic History Review|date=1986|volume=39|series=2|issue=3|pages=392–410|jstor=2596347|doi=10.1111/j.1468-0289.1986.tb00411.x}}</ref> After a peak in 2022 the price unexpectedly fell.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Copper is unexpectedly getting cheaper |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2023/07/06/copper-is-unexpectedly-getting-cheaper |access-date=2023-12-19 |issn=0013-0613}}</ref> And by May 2024, the price on the [[London Metal Exchange]] has reached an all-time high above $11,000 per ton.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-05-20 |title=Copper price hits record above $11,000 on bets that shortage looms |url=https://www.mining.com/web/copper-price-hits-record-above-11000-on-bets-that-shortage-looms/ |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=MINING.COM |language=en-US}}</ref>

The global market for copper is one of the most [[Commodification|commodified]] and [[Financialization|financialized]] of the [[Commodity market|commodity markets]], and has been so for decades.<ref name=":072">{{Cite book |last=Massot |first=Pascale |title=China's Vulnerability Paradox: How the World's Largest Consumer Transformed Global Commodity Markets |date=2024 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-777140-2 |location=New York, NY, United States of America |pages=}}</ref>{{Rp|page=213}}

===Extraction<span class="anchor" id="Methods"></span>===
{{main|Copper extraction}}
[[File:Copper Flash Smelting Process (EN).svg|right|thumb|Scheme of flash smelting process]]
The great majority of copper ores are sulfides. Common ores are the sulfides chalcopyrite (CuFeS<sub>2</sub>), bornite (Cu<sub>5</sub>FeS<sub>4</sub>) and, to a lesser extent, covellite (CuS) and chalcocite (Cu<sub>2</sub>S).<ref>{{Greenwood&Earnshaw2nd|pages=1174–1175}}</ref>  These ores occur at the level of <1% Cu. Concentration of the ore is required, which begins with [[comminution]] followed by [[froth flotation]]. The remaining concentrate is smelted, which can be described with two simplified equations:<ref name=Ullmann>{{cite book |doi=10.1002/14356007.a07_471 |chapter=Copper |title=Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry |date=2001 |last1=Lossin |first1=Adalbert |isbn=9783527303854 }}</ref>

Cuprous sulfide is oxidized to cuprous oxide:
:2 Cu<sub>2</sub>S + 3 O<sub>2</sub> → 2 Cu<sub>2</sub>O + 2 SO<sub>2</sub>

Cuprous oxide reacts with cuprous sulfide to convert to ''blister copper'' upon heating:
:2 Cu<sub>2</sub>O + Cu<sub>2</sub>S → 6 Cu + 2 SO<sub>2</sub>

This roasting gives matte copper, roughly 50% Cu by weight, which is purified by electrolysis.  Depending on the ore, sometimes other metals are obtained during the electrolysis including platinum and gold.

Aside from sulfides, another family of ores are oxides.  Approximately 15% of the world's copper supply derives from these oxides.  The beneficiation process for oxides involves extraction with sulfuric acid solutions followed by electrolysis.  In parallel with the above method for "concentrated" sulfide and oxide ores, copper is recovered from [[mine tailing]]s and heaps.  A variety of methods are used including leaching with sulfuric acid, ammonia, ferric chloride.  Biological methods are also used.<ref name=Ullmann/><ref>{{cite journal|last=Watling |first=H.R. |title=The bioleaching of sulphide minerals with emphasis on copper sulphides – A review |journal=Hydrometallurgy |date=2006 |volume=84 |issue=1 |pages=81–108 |url=http://infolib.hua.edu.vn/Fulltext/ChuyenDe/ChuyenDe07/CDe53/59.pdf |doi=10.1016/j.hydromet.2006.05.001 |bibcode=2006HydMe..84...81W |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110818131019/http://infolib.hua.edu.vn/Fulltext/ChuyenDe/ChuyenDe07/CDe53/59.pdf |archive-date=18 August 2011}}</ref>

A potential source of copper is polymetallic nodules, which have an estimated concentration 1.3%.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Su |first1=Kun |last2=Ma |first2=Xiaodong |last3=Parianos |first3=John |last4=Zhao |first4=Baojun |title=Thermodynamic and Experimental Study on Efficient Extraction of Valuable Metals from Polymetallic Nodules |journal=Minerals |date=2020 |volume=10 |issue=4 |pages=360 |doi=10.3390/min10040360 |bibcode=2020Mine...10..360S |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=International Seabed Authority |title=Polymetallic Nodules |url=https://isa.org.jm/files/files/documents/eng7.pdf |publisher=International Seabed Authority |access-date=8 February 2021 |archive-date=23 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211023145629/https://isa.org.jm/files/files/documents/eng7.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

{{Plain image with caption|Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company Copper Map.svg|<big>'''Flowchart of copper refining''' (Anode casting plant of Uralelektromed)</big>
# ''[[Copper extraction techniques#Converting|Blister copper]]''
# ''[[Smelting]]''
# ''[[Reverberatory furnace]]''
# ''[[Slag]] removal''
# ''Copper casting of [[anode]]s''
# ''Casting wheel''
# ''Anodes removal machine''
# ''Anodes take-off''
# ''[[Minecart|Rail cars]]''
# ''Transportation to the tank house''|650|center|top|triangle|#ccc}}

===Recycling===
According to the [[International Resource Panel]]'s [[Metal Stocks in Society report]], the global per capita stock of copper in use in society is 35–55&nbsp;kg. Much of this is in more-developed countries (140–300&nbsp;kg per capita) rather than less-developed countries (30–40&nbsp;kg per capita). In 2001, a typical automobile contained 20–30&nbsp;kg of copper.<ref name=Ullmann/> By 2014, the copper and copper alloy content of [[internal combustion engine]] vehicles decreased to 16.8 kg, but increased again to 24.5 kg by 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 2024 |title=Chemistry and Automobiles Driving the Future |url=https://www.americanchemistry.com/content/download/16352/file/Chemistry-and-Automobiles-2024.pdf |website=American Chemistry Counsil}}</ref> At the same time, a battery [[electric vehicle]] already contains around 91 kg of copper and copper alloys.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-05-15 |title=Copper can't be mined fast enough to electrify the US |url=https://news.umich.edu/copper-cant-be-mined-fast-enough-to-electrify-the-us/ |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=University of Michigan News |language=en-US}}</ref>

Like [[aluminium]], copper is recyclable without any loss of quality, both from raw state and from manufactured products.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5_QLBwAAQBAJ&q=copper+recyclable+without+any+loss+of+quality&pg=PA249|title=The Role of Ecological Chemistry in Pollution Research and Sustainable Development|last1=Bahadir|first1=Ali Mufit|last2=Duca|first2=Gheorghe|date=2009|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-90-481-2903-4|language=en}}</ref> An estimated 80% of all copper ever mined is still in use today.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.copperinfo.com/environment/recycling.html|title=International Copper Association|access-date=22 July 2009|archive-date=5 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305203937/http://www.copperinfo.com/environment/recycling.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> In volume, copper is the third most recycled metal after iron and aluminium.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BnN3DAAAQBAJ&q=%C2%A0copper+third+most+recycled+metal+after+iron+and+aluminium&pg=PT281|title=The Periodic Table in Minutes|last=Green|first=Dan|date=2016|publisher=Quercus|isbn=978-1-68144-329-4|language=en}}</ref> {{As of|2023}}, recycled copper supplies about one-third<!--35%--> of global demand.<ref>{{Citation|title=The World Copper Factbook 2024|author=((International Copper Study Group))|author-link=International Copper Study Group|url=https://icsg.org/download/2024-09-23-the-world-copper-factbook-2024/?wpdmdl=8185&refresh=67470bf6457501732709366&ind=66f165bba8103&filename=Factbook2024.pdf|access-date=19 December 2024|page=53|archive-date=19 December 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241219053900/https://icsg.org/download/2024-09-23-the-world-copper-factbook-2024/?wpdmdl=8185&refresh=67470bf6457501732709366&ind=66f165bba8103&filename=Factbook2024.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> 

The process of recycling copper is roughly the same as is used to extract copper but requires fewer steps. High-purity scrap copper is melted in a [[Metallurgical furnace|furnace]] and then [[redox|reduced]] and cast into [[Billet (semi-finished product)|billets]] and [[ingot]]s.<ref>[http://www.copper.org/publications/newsletters/innovations/1998/06/recycle_overview.html "Overview of Recycled Copper" ''Copper.org'']. (25 August 2010). Retrieved on 8 November 2011.</ref> Lower-purity scrap is melted to form ''black copper'' (70–90% pure, containing impurities such as iron, zinc, tin, and nickel), followed by oxidation of impurities in a [[Converting_(metallurgy)|converter]] to form blister copper (96–98% pure), which is then [[Copper extraction#Refining|refined]] as before.<ref name=Ullmann7ed-Figure28>{{cite book |doi=10.1002/14356007.a07_471 |chapter=Copper |title=Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry |date=2012 |last1=Lossin |first1=Adalbert |isbn=9783527303854 |edition=7th |volume=10 |page=202}}</ref>{{rp|p=202}}

===Environmental impacts===
The environmental cost of copper mining was estimated at 3.7&nbsp;kg [[CO2eq|{{CO2}}-eq]] per kg of copper in 2019.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.mineralinfo.fr/sites/default/files/documents/2021-10/presentation_comes_20210517_com.pdf |publisher=WeeeCycling |date=2021-05-17 |language=fr |title=Les opportunités du recyclage du cuivre de haute pureté |trans-title=Opportunities for recycling high purity copper}}</ref> [[Codelco]], a major producer in Chile, reported that in 2020 the company emitted 2.8&nbsp;t {{CO2}}-eq per ton (2.8&nbsp;kg {{CO2}}-eq per kg) of fine copper.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.codelco.com/sites/site/docs/20221206/20221206220556/annual_memory_2020.pdf |page=109 |publisher=Codelco |title=Annual Memory 2020}}</ref> [[Greenhouse gas emissions]] primarily arise from electricity consumed by the company, especially when sourced from fossil fuels, and from engines required for copper extraction and refinement. Companies that mine land often mismanage waste, rendering the area sterile for life. Additionally, nearby rivers and forests are also negatively impacted. The [[Philippines]] is an example of a region where land is overexploited by mining companies.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.fr/responsabilite-des-entreprises/actualites/philippines-attention-terrain-mine |publisher=Amnesty International |title=Philippines: attention, terrain miné |language=fr |trans-title=Philippines: attention, mined land |date=2016-11-09}}</ref>

Copper mining waste in Valea Şesei, Romania, has significantly altered nearby water properties. The water in the affected areas is highly acidic, with a pH range of 2.1–4.9, and shows elevated electrical conductivity levels between 280 and 1561 mS/cm.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Rzymski |first1=Piotr |last2=Klimaszyk |first2=Piotr |last3=Marszelewski |first3=Włodzimierz |last4=Borowiak |first4=Dariusz |last5=Mleczek |first5=Mirosław |last6=Nowiński |first6=Kamil |last7=Pius |first7=Bożena |last8=Niedzielski |first8=Przemysław |last9=Poniedziałek |first9=Barbara |date=2017-07-25 |title=The chemistry and toxicity of discharge waters from copper mine tailing impoundment in the valley of the Apuseni Mountains in Romania |journal=Environmental Science and Pollution Research International |volume=24 |issue=26|pages=21445–21458 |doi=10.1007/s11356-017-9782-y |pmid=28744684 |pmc=5579155 |bibcode=2017ESPR...2421445R }}</ref> These changes in water chemistry make the environment inhospitable for fish, essentially rendering the water uninhabitable for aquatic life.