University of Utah

Copper Metallurgy
A History Of

Colton Allred
December 5, 2014

Copper Metallurgy

TABLE OF CONTENTS
What is Copper ........................................................................................................................... - 2 Copper Age.................................................................................................................................. - 2 Bronze Age .................................................................................................................................. - 4 Copper in the Modern Age ......................................................................................................... - 5 Value of Copper .......................................................................................................................... - 8 Works Cited ................................................................................................................................. - 9 -

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Copper Metallurgy
WHAT IS COPPER
Copper is the longest used metal in world history. With its natural color, wide variety of
uses, and relative availability it is well known by all of humanity and has played a major role in
the development of civilizations around the world. While it is possible to find natural copper in
its crystalline form, it is most often found in minerals. These minerals are sulfide minerals,
which include, chalcopyrite, covellite, bornite and chalcocite, as well as carbonate minerals
including azurite and malachite, and silicate minerals such as chrysocolla and dioptase
(International Copper Study Group, 2013).
Copper is a malleable, ductile metal with high electrical conductivity and good corrosion
resistance (International Copper Study Group, 2013). These properties make it useful in
electrical components and electrical wiring. Copper is also used in plumbing parts and pipes, as
well as seeing extensive use in both ancient and modern times in the form of an alloy known as
bronze (Copper Development Association, 2010).

COPPER AGE
The copper age is considered the start of copper use in ancient times. This period is
believed to have started around 4000-5000 BC and was a precursor to the more significant
Bronze Age. Copper had been found by this time in its pure form but only rarely and it saw little
use. Because of the malleability of the metal it could be easily shaped but it lacked the strength
necessary for use in common tools. As a result it was most often used for ornamental purposes
in things such as jewelry (Smith, 1965).

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Copper Metallurgy
Copper was probably first put into more widespread use after the discovery of smelting
techniques. It was once believed that copper smelting was likely discovered as a result of
copper-bearing ores being placed in and around campfires where the heat from the fire would
reduce the copper and purify it. Much speculation now surrounds that idea as it is unlikely that
a basic campfire could reach beyond 600 C to cause reduction of copper which requires
temperatures of about 700-800 C (Cramb, n.d.). More recently it has been suggested that
copper smelting was instead discovered in clay furnaces. The furnaces provided the necessary
heat required and certain areas of the furnace would experience low oxygen content resulting
in a reducing atmosphere. It was common at the time for clay pots and vases to be decorated
with paints made of various minerals including malachite which, when fired, would produce a
bright blue color. When these decorated clay vessels were subjected to the high heat and a
reducing atmosphere the copper in the paints would sometimes purify leaving copper-colored
streaks where there should have been blue designs. It is expected that this generated curiosity
in those who discovered this and they began to experiment and develop methods of repeating
this unusual incident. This eventually led to more developed methods of smelting the copper
(Free, 2010).
As the discovery of copper smelting spread, many civilizations began to perfect the
process. The Sumerians would make clay furnaces with open bottoms facing into the wind
which would fuel the fire and make the furnace hotter. The Egyptians adopted a similar
technique which later utilized various forms of bellows instead of the wind to achieve more
ideal conditions (Smith, 1965). As the smelting of copper became more and more widespread

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eventually a new discovery was made which would further launch humanity out of the Stone
Age and into the age of metals.

BRONZE AGE
Because of its mechanical properties copper served little use in the making of tools. The
main reason is that the copper lacked strength, it was too malleable and ductile. While it could
be cold-worked and hammered to achieve greater strength this was not always an adequate
replacement for the stone tools already in use. The Bronze Age is believed to have begun at
around 2000-3000 BC in most places and likely began with the discovery of arsenical bronze.
Some copper deposits have natural arsenical impurities that would reduce the melting
temperature of the copper and increase its strength. Over time the historical record shows that
alloys began to contain more and more arsenic in an effort to further strengthen the metal and
reduce its melting point (Free, 2010). Eventually it was discovered that alloying the copper with
tin would achieve similar yet more desirable results. This led to the development of the
traditional bronze, consisting of approximately nine parts copper to one part tin (Jordan, 2013).
The discovery of Bronze was a major step in world history. It marked the point in time
when mankind transferred fully out of the Stone Age and into a more developed society. Trade
routes within the ancient world began to more fully develop as the demand for copper and tin
increased. Sumer, having no local resources of either metal, would trade with other civilizations
for copper from places such as modern day Oman and get their tin from the Anatolia region
(Free, 2010).

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Copper Metallurgy
The discovery of Bronze also led to another use of copper. Whereas before the pure
copper was difficult to melt the bronze would melt at a much lower temperature and could
therefore be easily cast. The development of casting led to more detailed designs in artwork
and allowed for the creation of more complex items. Prior to the development of Bronze,
copper casting was possible but much more difficult, it was extremely difficult to melt the
copper and when it was melted it would often cool before it could reach the detailed portions
of the mold (Smith, 1965).
The Bronze Age began to decline around 1500 BC with the introduction of iron and after
some time, steels. Bronze and copper were never put completely out of use though, still serving
as common metals in the production of jewelry, coinage and ornamentation. Copper also saw
some use as an alloy with zinc to form Brass.

COPPER IN THE MODERN AGE

Copper has continued to be used throughout human history, although not as extensively
as iron. Modern times however have seen an immense increase in the value of copper and
there has been an explosion in the many uses of copper.
The discovery and invention of electricity saw the birth of a new era in human history,
an era which relied fully on copper. One of the most utilized properties of copper is its high
electrical conductivity, when compared to other metals it is one of the most conductive, second
only to silver. Copper, however, is much more readily available than silver, being significantly
more abundant in the earths crust and simpler to extract. This has led to copper becoming the
standard in electrical conductivity (International Copper Study Group, 2013).
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Copper Metallurgy
Copper is used in just about every electrical component made, it is used to make wires
which fill our homes and businesses and transfer electricity from our power stations to where it
is needed. Copper makes up a reasonable portion of the connections found in microchips both
old and new and continues to be innovated to better serve the purposes for which it best
applies. The data for our television and internet are most often transferred along copper wires
and after innovation is capable of reaching speeds that were once believed beyond any
material except fiber optics.
These sudden new uses for copper have expanded the need for copper reserves and
generated a number of new extraction methods and techniques. Despite having been used for
at least 6000 years, 96% of copper in the world has been mined since 1900 and much of it
within the last 24 years (International Copper Study Group, 2013). This has also generated an
increase in the recycling of copper. Copper recycling accounts for a large portion of consumable
copper each year and is especially valuable to us as it is cheaper and easier to refine than
copper ore from a mine site. This contributes to a decrease in energy usage which benefits the
environment and assures a longer lasting copper reserve for future generations (International
Copper Study Group, 2013).
With the increase in copper production has come innovation in extraction techniques of
which electricity has played a major role. Copper smelting techniques are still often used today
but are overshadowed by the use of flotation techniques and electrorefining/electrowinning.
The flotation techniques involve the comminution of copper into micron sized particles
followed by a flotation cell. The flotation cell is filled with water and has a constant feed of the
comminuted ore. As the ore is fed into the cell the water is agitated and air bubbles are
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released from the bottom of the cell to float to the surface. In order for flotation to work
certain chemicals have to be added to the water, these chemicals are found thermodynamically
and through experimentation and are specifically designed to work with copper, the chemical is
designed to attach to the surface of copper particles such that there is a hydrophobic end of the
chemical which will then attach itself to the air bubbles being released. The air bubble will then
drag the copper particle to the surface where a froth is forming which will run off the cell to be
collected. This can be performed a number of times under different conditions to achieve
greater recovery and separation efficiency and then the copper particles can go to further
refinement.
One method of refinement is the process of electrowinning. The copper particles from
the flotation step or even prior to the flotation step can be leached by an acid which can
separate the copper atoms from the other atoms which make up the mineral. The acid used will
depend on the mineral properties and chemical composition. This acid solution is then
introduced to a galvanic cell. The transfer of electrons through the galvanic cell, when supplied
with electricity, generates a positively charged cathode in the solution this causes the
negatively charged copper ions dissolved in the acid to plate themselves onto the cathode as
refined copper.
Electrorefining works similarly and can either be used to further refine the product of
electrowinning if necessary, or to refine a smelting product. The process of electrorefining
works by the same principle as electrowinning. The copper to be refined is used as the anode in
the cell. As the electrons are transferred through the solution the anode becomes negatively
charged and begins to release copper ions into the solution that will then be attracted by the
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positively charged cathode where they will collect to form a 99.99% pure copper plate (Free,
2010).

VALUE OF COPPER
Copper has played a major role in world history. From the ancient near east civilizations
to the modern day it continues to have unique value and usefulness beyond all other metals.
Even iron, though used in much more abundance, cannot serve such a variety of unique
purposes. Copper is a metal which, as history has proven, will continue to be an important
aspect of our everyday lives and will continue to be developed in new and innovative ways to
better serve mankind.
It is important, however, to consider our exorbitant use of copper in comparison with
the copper reserves remaining in the world. While innovation and experimentation leads to
new methods of extraction which are more cost-effective and more capable of handling low
grade ores, we continue to make use of what viable resources we have. For this reason the
recycling of copper metal is a major concern around the world. Because of coppers past
usefulness and continued usefulness for thousands of years it is expected that its usefulness
will continue thousands of years into the future. Therefore, it is necessary for us to ensure that
the worlds copper resources can remain viable for the use of future generations (International
Copper Study Group, 2013).

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WORKS CITED
Copper Development Association. (2010, August 25). Copper Facts. Retrieved from Copper
Development Association: http://www.copper.org/education/c-facts/
Cramb, A. W. (n.d.). A Short History of Metals. Retrieved December 5, 2014, from Carnegie
Mellon University: http://neon.mems.cmu.edu/cramb/Processing/history.html
Free, M. (2010, August 30). Global Influences of Metals Notes. Salt Lake City, UT, United States
of America.
International Copper Study Group. (2013, September 19). The World Copper Factbook 2013.
Retrieved from Copper Alliance: http://copperalliance.org/wordpress/wpcontent/uploads/2012/01/2013-World-Copper-Factbook.pdf
Jordan, D. K. (2013, August 17). Jordan: Ancient Metallurgy. Retrieved from University of
California, San Diego: http://pages.ucsd.edu/~dkjordan/arch/metallurgy.html
Smith, B. W. (1965). 60 Centuries of Copper. London: Hutchison.

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