Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Copper-empathy stage, Copper is already endangered as it is used in…
Copper-empathy stage
i. Where is it extracted from largely?
The largest copper mine is found in Utah (Bingham Canyon). Other major mines are found in Arizona, Michigan, New Mexico and Montana. In South America, Chile, the world's largest producer, and Peru are both major producers of copper.
Chalcopyrite (also known as copper pyrites) and similar sulfide ores are the commonest ores of copper.
Where is it used and how has its use evolved over time?
Most copper is used in electrical equipment such as wiring and motors. This is because it conducts both heat and electricity very well, and can be drawn into wires.
11,000 years ago when copper was first being put into use, ancient societies had no information about the metal and as a result the metal was under-used
Copper was too soft and thus combined with another metal.
Most common alloy-tin to form bronze.
How is copper extracted from its ore?
Copper can be extracted from its ore by: Underground: sinking a vertical shaft into the Earth to an appropriate depth and driving horizontal tunnels into the ore.
The conversion of copper consists of a series of physical and electrochemical processes. Methods have evolved and vary with country depending on the ore source, local environmental regulations, and other factors.
Oxidised copper ores can be treated by hydrometallurgical extraction.
Is it easily available or how much of this resource is present in the Earth for us to use?
Copper is somewhat rare because of how much humans have already extracted it from the Earth's crust.
What happens to it after it is no longer available?
Copper is already endangered as it is used in various ways for example in wirirng
copper is already endangered as it is extracted excessively, because it is used in electrical equipment such as wiring and motors. It is also used in construction for plumbing and roofing, it is also has use in industrial machinery.