Copper is widely used in almost any of the existing industries, it is allocated from a variety of ores because it is the most popular. Copper ore is a natural resource fossilized from ore called bornite, which is often used in industry. Great demand for this ore appeared not only due to the large amount of copper in the composition, but also due to the good reserves of bornite in the ground.
Deposits of copper ores
This ore is a combination of several minerals, where, in addition to it, other chemical elements are present, including nickel. Copper includes ores where there is so much copper that it is better to extract it by industrial methods. Ores, where the copper index is 0.5–1%, correspond to this requirement. There are many resources on Earth that contain copper, 90% of them are copper-nickel ores.
The largest copper ore deposits in Russia are located in Eastern Siberia, the Urals and the Kola Peninsula. In each country, copper is obtained in its own way. In addition to Russia, there are large deposits of copper and tin ores in other countries, for example, in Poland, Kazakhstan, and Canada.
Ore deposits are usually divided into groups that differ in various properties:
- Stratiform, such a group consists mainly of schists and sandstones.
- The pyrite type is, for example, vein or native copper.
- Hydrothermal ores, which include copper-porphyry ores.
- Igneous ores.
- Skarn type of ore.
- Carbonate ores.
On the territory of Russia, mainly sand or shale copper ore is mined; copper is contained in several forms in them.
Natural compounds with a copper content in its composition
Pure copper nuggets in our Earth are contained in small quantities. It is mainly mined in conjunction with other elements, here are the most famous of them:
- Bornite is a mineral that was named after the Czech scientist Born. It is a sulfide ore. It has alternative names, for example, copper purple. It is obtained in two types: low-temperature tetragonal-scalenohedral and high-temperature cubic-hexaoctahedral. The difference in species of this material depends on where it originated. Exogenous bornite is a secondary early sulfide, it is unstable and must be destroyed when exposed to winds. Endogenous bornite has a replaceable chemical composition; various elements, for example, chalcosine and galena, can be present in it. In theory, bornite may include 11% iron and more than 63% copper, but, unfortunately, in practice this composition is not preserved.
- Chalcopyrite - this type of mineral was originally called - copper pyrite , it originates hydrothermally. Chalcopyrite belongs to the category of polymetallic ores. In addition to copper, such a mineral has iron and sulfur in its composition. It is formed as a result of metamorphic processes, and is present in metasomatic types of copper ores.
- Chalcosine - such ore has in its composition a large amount of copper, almost 80%, the remaining place is sulfur. Often this kind of name is differently called copper shine, as its surface resembles a shiny metal shimmering in several shades. In ores, chalcosine is formed as a fine-grained or dense inclusion.
- Cuprite - this mineral belongs to the group of oxide, and it originates in those places where native copper or malachite is contained.
- Covellin - such a mineral is formed only in a metasomatic way. It contains almost 67% copper. A large copper ore deposit is located in Serbia, Italy and the USA.
- Malachite, or, as it is also called, ornamental stone, is very popular, it is a copper carbonate green. If you find this mineral somewhere, it means that you can find others with copper content in its composition.
Copper Technology
In order to obtain copper from the above, three technologies are currently used: electrolysis, hydrometallurgy, pyrometallurgy.
Chalkopyrite is taken as a raw material for the pyrometallurgical method for producing copper. When using this technology, you need to perform a certain number of sequential actions. Initially, copper ore is enriched by roasting or flotation. Flotation is the wetting of the starting material in a bath filled with a liquid composition. Forming air bubbles in those parts where mineral elements are contained, they move upward along with these bubbles. As a result, the top of the bathtub is filled with blister copper, where it contains up to 35%. Further, such a powder is converted into pure copper.
Oxidation firing occurs in a slightly different way. Using this method, copper ore is enriched; not a small amount of sulfur is present in its composition. The ore is heated to a high temperature, after which the sulfides are oxidized, and the amount of sulfur in the ore is reduced by almost half. Further, the ore is melted in special furnaces, and an alloy is obtained containing iron and copper in its composition.
The resulting material needs to be improved, this is done by blowing in a horizontal converter, without supplying additional fuel. After this procedure, iron and sulfide are oxidized. The result is blister copper with up to 91% copper content. To further refine the metal, it is refined by removing foreign impurities using a solution of copper sulfate. As a result, the amount of copper in the metal increases, it reaches 99.9%.
An alternative method of copper enrichment
There is another good way to enrich copper, it is done using sulfuric acid in order to isolate the necessary metal.
The result is a solution from which copper ores are subsequently extracted, gold can be obtained in the same way. This method is used in cases where the presence of copper in the ore is not so great.
Can copper be smelted at home?
It is possible that you doubt the implementation of this measure, since you do not have all the chemicals necessary for the pickling of copper, but you can take a ready-made copper bar and melt it. Copper, as a rule, can be found in thick wires, electromagnetic coils in the form of all the same wire, as well as from computer parts.
Copper can be melted at a high temperature, so in this case a horn is required - a special closed-type combustion chamber, into which gas is supplied under high pressure and ignited there, but is directed by a nozzle so that the heat does not unnecessarily go into the walls.
Finally
We hope that after reading this article you understand how important it is to extract and purify copper. We strongly recommend that you not personally use the described methods of pickling, as well as melting, because in these cases you can cause irreparable harm to your health.