Copper a Positive Mineral - Mineralogy Final Project

by

Kyle Halverson

http://www.emporia.edu/earthsci/amber/go336/halverson

This webpage project was created for a mineralogy course in November 2003 at Emporia State University. The assignment was to learn webpage creation as well as present a summary of your knowledge regarding the positive and negative aspects of . . . copper, a native element with many valuable uses.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Mineral Types and Formation
Uses
Copper Mining
Conclusion
References and Links

Introduction

This webpage has been constructed to help learn more about the mineral copper. In this webpage you will see different types and find out how copper was formed and why copper is a valuable mineral. Also, this page will give some insight into negative aspects and the link to a my teammate's web site on copper, a native element considered by some to be hazardous.

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Mineral Types and Formation

Copper is a mineral that has many different types (copper pictured below). It is most often found joined with other native minerals, and is not usually found in a pure state. Types of copper are: azurite, chrysocolla, chalcopyrite, chalcocite, bornite, and turquiose. Although these all contain copper, their compositions are different. Azurite, malachite, chrysocolla, and turquiose are all oxidized copper minerals, while chalcopyrite, chalcocite, and bornite are all sulfides of copper (Lichtenhan, 1997-2001). Malachite is about 57% copper. This type of copper is usually a bright green color and has a non-metallic luster (see http://www.minerals.net/mineral/carbonat/malachit/malacht2.htm for an image). Most types of copper are a blue, green, or bronze color. The copper minerals that are blue and green color are ones that have probably been weathered, because as copper weathers, it has a tendency to turn blue or green.

The formation of copper is similar to many other metals, that is hydrothermal veins deposits. According to an informative page at the United States Geological Survey (USGS), it takes a rising plume of magma to intrude into the crust; as a magma plume rises through the layers of Earth, the composition is basaltic and contains metals. The magma is low in sulfur and when the plume intrudes into Earth's crust it encounters sulfur oxides (USGS). Sulfur in the magma saturates the solution, but are denser than the basaltic magma and this results in copper being deposited in layers (USGS). As the denser sulfides form they tend to drop down into the plume letting the basaltic magma rise (USGS).


This is a "distorted mass of copper with a green tarnish," malachite (?). Image courtesy of
http://www.minerals.net/mineral/elements/copper/copper1.htm,
a webpage from http://www.minerals.net, The Mineral and Gemstone Kingdom,
the web site and collection of Hershel Friedman.

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Uses

Copper is a very widely used mineral, from decorations to industrial. According to the Center for Environmental Health Sciences at Dartmouth College (2001), copper is used in clocks, watches, bottoms of boats, guns, ammunition, wire, and pipes. The main industrial use of copper is wiring for conducting electricity. Also, copper pipes move water throughout a building. Copper is applied to the bottom of a boat to help protect it from damage and keep it from sinking. Copper use in watches and guns is mainly as decoration. The copper in ammunition is the shell casing. This is especially evident as a gun shell weathers and turns a green or blue color. Although copper is seen on roofs of building, the most well known copper structure is the Statue of Liberty, which has a distinct greenish color. Copper is used worldwide and the largest copper mine is in the United States (Voynick, 2002).

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Copper Mining

The largest copper mine is located in Utah twenty miles southwest of Salt Lake City. This mine is known as the "richest hole in the world" (Voynick, 2002). Not only is copper taken from this mine but gold, silver, molybdenum, platinum, and palladium. The excavation at Bingham Canyon (pictured below) is the deepest manmade hole on Earth. This mine is one-half mile deep, two and one-half miles across the rim, and covers two thousand acres (Voynick, 2002). The Bingham Canyon mine has produced more copper than any other copper mine in the world, some 14.5 million tons (Voynick, 2002).

The extraction of copper is an extensive process. Copper at Bingham Canyon is extracted from chalcopyrite, which contains only 0.6% copper (Voynick, 2002). Lichtenhan (1997-2001) stated that on average copper mines produce ten pounds of copper per ton of ore, but Voynick (2002) said Bingham Canyon's mine yielded twelve pounds copper per ton of ore. An upgrading process is done efficiently and safely at the Bingham Canyon mine since the late 1980s and copper extraction requires few human workers (Voynick, 2002 ). Once copper is taken from the ground, it is melted down into a molten copper sulfide, which is only about 70% pure copper. After being injected with some oxygen and heated in a furnace, the ore is 99% pure copper (Voynick, 2002).

Even though copper is very useful, there are some negative aspects to mining. Environmental hazards are detailed at Environmental Hazards Associated with Copper, and include such things as hazardous dust from explosives in open pit mining and the general changes to the landscape.

Bingham Canyon located southwest of Salt Lake City, Utah,
near Tooele (1978). It is the world's largest open mine pit.
Image courtesy of http://geoimages.berkeley.edu, a Geo-Images Project,
Department of Geography, University of California, Berkeley.
This image came specifically from Images of the Western States and Provinces,
http://geogweb.berkeley.edu/GeoImages/BainWest/bain5.html,
http://geogweb.berkeley.edu/GeoImages/BainWest/bain5/LARGEPIT.html.

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Conclusion

In conclusion, this report has covered types and formation of copper, as well as use and mining. I hope you can appreciate copper and copper-bearing minerals, now that you know more about copper minerals. Although this page focused on copper's positive aspects, there are negative aspects as well.

References

Bain, G. D. Images of the western states and provinces. World Wide Web homepage URL: http://geoimages.berkeley.edu/GeoImages/BainWest/bain5.html.

Center for Environmental Health Sciences at Dartmouth College. 2001. What is copper used for. World Wide Web homepage URL: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~cehs/ElizabethMine/copper_uses.html, within http://www.dartmouth.edu/~cehs/. Retrieved on 10-21-03.

Friedman, H. 1997-2000. Malachite. World Wide Web homepage URL: http://www.minerals.net/mineral/carbonat/malachit/malacht2.htm, within http://www.minerals.net The Mineral and Gemstone Kingdom.

Friedman, H. 1997-2000. Copper. World Wide Web homepage URL: http://www.minerals.net/mineral/elements/copper/copper1.htm, within http://www.minerals.net The Mineral and Gemstone Kingdom.

Lichtenhan G. 1997-2001. Copper the mighty metal: Arizona's gift to the World. World Wide Web homepage URL: http://www.azcu.org.cumightymetal/textversion.html. Retrieved on 10-29-03.

USGS. Potential for new nickel-copper sulfide deposits in Lake Superior region. World Wide Web homepage URL: http://pubs.usgs.gov/info/mwni_cu/. Retrieved on 10-29-03.

Voynick, S. 2002. Bingham Canyon copper finding chalcopyrite at "the richest hole on Earth." Rock and Gem Journal Online at Rockhounds. World Wide Web homepage URL: http://www.rockhounds.com/rockgem/articles/bingham_canyon.html, within Rock and Gem Magazine Online at http://www.rockhounds.com. Retrieved 10-21-03.

Related Links
Hershel Friedman's Copper Bingham Canyon
Webpage Project Assignment Past Student WebPages
Mineral and Gemstone Links World of Amber
Jake's page - Environmental Hazards Associated with Copper

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For more information, email halvey_6@hotmail.com. Date of Creation, 12-5-03. Last updated, 12-6-03.