What is Copper

Copper is reddish orange soft and malleable metal classed as a chemical element. It has an atomic number of 29 and a very high thermal and electrical conductivity. This makes it ideal in the use of electricity and heat conduction. It is also used as a building material and is alloyed with other metals to improve their characteristics such as hardness and stability.

History
Copper has been used for thousands of years as far back as 3000 BC and probably beyond. in a variety of ways including as money, as a coloring, as decoration and as an alloy with other metals. It is copper that is alloyed or 'mixed' with zinc or tin to make brass and this was practiced as far back as 2500 BC to 600 BC.

The name copper comes from the Latin word cuprum.

Copper is also found in the human body and is an essential trace element for all plant and animal life.

Copper reacts with oxygen and this can be seen in the green layer on old copper. This is called brown-black copper oxide. This oxide layer does stop the further, bulk corrosion. A good example of this green layer of verdigris (copper carbonate) can often be seen on old copper constructions, such as the Statue of Liberty, the largest copper statue in the world.

Where to Find Copper
Copper can be found as either native copper or as part of minerals. Native copper is called a polycrystal. The largest single crystals found to date measuring 4.4x3.2x3.2 cm. The largest mass of elemental copper weighed 420 tonnes and was found in 1857 on the Keweenaw Peninsula in Michigan, US. But most copper you will find is mined or extracted as copper sulphides from large open pit mines in copper deposits that contain 0.4 to 1.0% copper. Some examples include Chuquicamata in Chile, Bingham Canyon Mine in Utah, United States and El Chino Mine in New Mexico, United States.

According to a British Geological Survey, in 2005, Chile was the top mine producer of copper with at least one-third world share followed by the United States, Indonesia and Peru.

More than 95% of all copper ever mined and smelted has been extracted since 1900s. The total amount of copper on Earth is around 1014 tons and this is just in the top one kilometre of the Earth's crust. About 5 million years worth at the current rate of extraction or mining so there is no shortage of copper available. However, only a tiny fraction of these reserves is economically viable when you take into account the cost of extraction with today's prices and technologies. However, as the price of copper continues to rise, it becomes more viable to extract copper deeper in the earths crust, given present-day prices and technologies.

Various estimates of existing copper reserves available for mining vary from 25 years to 60 years, depending on core assumptions such as the growth rate.

Recycling is also a major source of copper in the modern world and with the emphasis on green energy and global warming, carbon emissions (particularly in industry), the future of copper production and supply is the subject of much debate, including the concept of Peak copper, analogue to Peak Oil.

Copper is priced in the market by the pound. Currently it is running at just over 4 US dollars a pound. The price fluctuates on a daily basis but trends in the price of copper have been rising steadily over the past years.