When tempered in this way, knives could be made which were much better than the stone or bone knives which were used before. Copper was used as early as 15, years ago. The metal was found as lumps of native copper and could be easily fashioned into jewellery, tools, or cooking and storage containers.
The use of copper increased about 5, years ago with the discovery that it could be easily mixed or alloyed with other metals such as tin, zinc or lead. These alloys produced bronze and brass with a variety of useful properties. In Ontario, native copper was first mined nearly 5, years ago along the eastern shore of Lake Superior.
These reports noted that pieces of copper were being cut from a large boulder of native copper on Michipicoten Island, near Wawa. Sparse ore reserves and a cave in caused the first mining fatalities in Ontario and ultimately caused the mine to close down shortly after it was opened.
Chalcopyrite ore was produced from this mine for 50 years. Deposits in the area were extensive and supported several mines, including the Pater Mine which opened in The Pater mine produced over 36, kilotons of copper prior to closing in The nickel deposits of the Sudbury area were originally worked for copper. The abundant nickel sulphides in the ore were considered a contaminant and made the extraction of copper difficult.
A method for separating the two metals was discovered in and a market for nickel was found, causing copper to be replaced as the primary metal mined in Sudbury. James Thompson, a geologist with the Ontario Department of Mines, located several areas of rusty weathering rock called gossan. Gossan, a spongy mass of iron oxides, forms by the weathering of sulphide minerals.
Finally prospectors realized the potential for copper in the area and staked what became the Geco and Wilroy Mines Wilroy Mine is named for two of the prospectors —William Dawidowich and Roy Barker. The Geco Mine, owned by Noranda, is still in operation and has produced nearly 2 billion dollars worth of metals including copper, zinc and gold.
Kidd Creek Mine in Timmins was found in by an airborne electromagnetic survey. Drilling started in and outlined what was the largest base metal mine in the world.
Other products include indium and sulphuric acid. Calumet Conglomerate with native copper replacing the fine matrix which would have been iron oxide. Calumet and Hekla Mine, Michigan. Brass is one of the most widely used alloys.
It is mainly copper, alloyed with between 5 and 40 percent zinc. Brass is often used for corrosion-resistant decorative purposes such as door handles, locks and knockers. It is much harder and stronger than copper and it will machine well. A form of brass can be made that changes its shape above a certain temperature and returns to its original shape when it cools down. It is used, for example, in the automatic switching devices in many electric jugs and kettles.
Bronze is an alloy of copper that is significantly different from brass. Bronze is a copper alloy with tin as its major secondary constituent.
Bronze has been used since ancient times for decorative metal objects and also for coins. You may browse, download or print out one copy of the material displayed on the Site for your personal, non-commercial, non-public use, but you must retain all copyright and other proprietary notices contained on the materials. You may not further copy, alter, distribute or otherwise use any of the materials from this Site without the advance, written consent of the RSC.
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Discovery date Prehistoric Discovered by - Origin of the name The name is derived from the Old English name 'coper' in turn derived from the Latin 'Cyprium aes', meaning a metal from Cyprus Allotropes. Glossary Group A vertical column in the periodic table.
Fact box. Group 11 Melting point Glossary Image explanation Murray Robertson is the artist behind the images which make up Visual Elements. Appearance The description of the element in its natural form. Biological role The role of the element in humans, animals and plants. Natural abundance Where the element is most commonly found in nature, and how it is sourced commercially.
Uses and properties. Image explanation. The image is of one of the many alchemical symbols once used to represent the element copper. It is shown against a 17th-century map of Cyprus, from where the element gets its name.
A reddish-gold metal that is easily worked and drawn into wires. Historically, copper was the first metal to be worked by people. The discovery that it could be hardened with a little tin to form the alloy bronze gave the name to the Bronze Age. Traditionally it has been one of the metals used to make coins, along with silver and gold. However, it is the most common of the three and therefore the least valued. All US coins are now copper alloys, and gun metals also contain copper.
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. It also has uses in construction for example roofing and plumbing , and industrial machinery such as heat exchangers.
Copper sulfate is used widely as an agricultural poison and as an algicide in water purification. Biological role. Copper is an essential element. An adult human needs around 1.
Excess copper is toxic. Unlike mammals, which use iron in haemoglobin to transport oxygen around their bodies, some crustaceans use copper complexes. Natural abundance. Copper metal does occur naturally, but by far the greatest source is in minerals such as chalcopyrite and bornite. Copper is obtained from these ores and minerals by smelting, leaching and electrolysis.
The major copper-producing countries are Chile, Peru and China. Help text not available for this section currently. Elements and Periodic Table History. Copper beads have been excavated in northern Iraq and which are more than ten thousand years old and presumably made from native copper, nuggets of which can sometimes be found. Copper was widely used in the ancient world as bronze, its alloy with tin, which was used to make cutlery, coins, and tools.
In China it was used for bells. Copper is not difficult to extract from it ores, but mineable deposits were relatively rare. Some, such as the copper mine at Falun, Sweden, date from the s, were the source of great wealth.
One way to extract the metal was to roast the sulfide ore then leach out the copper sulfate that was formed, with water. This was then trickled over scrap iron on the surface of which the copper deposited, forming a flaky layer that was easily removed. Atomic data. Glossary Common oxidation states The oxidation state of an atom is a measure of the degree of oxidation of an atom.
Oxidation states and isotopes. Glossary Data for this section been provided by the British Geological Survey. Relative supply risk An integrated supply risk index from 1 very low risk to 10 very high risk.
Recycling rate The percentage of a commodity which is recycled. Substitutability The availability of suitable substitutes for a given commodity. We come into contact with copper from these sources every day but the quantity is usually tiny. Some of that copper, particularly in water, may be absorbed and used by the body. But much of the copper we come into contact with is tightly bound to other compounds rendering it neither useful nor toxic.
It is important to remember that the toxicity of a substance is based on how much an organism is exposed to and the duration and route of exposure.
There are sources of copper in the environment that do pose a health risk. Air and soil near copper processing facilities such as smelters typically have much high levels of copper than that in other areas.
Agricultural runoff can contain copper-based pesticides. These can pose a health risk to humans. However, copper binds very easily to compounds in soil and water, reducing its bioavailability to humans. A potential source of excessive copper exposure in humans is from drinking water transferred through copper pipes and brass sink fixtures. Small amounts of copper from plumbing leach into water, particularly hot water and water that has been sitting in the pipes for several hours or overnight.
Acidic low pH water will leach more copper than more basic high pH water will. Blue-green water stains below faucets are an indicator of copper in the water. Some people who drink water with high copper levels may experience nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. The amount of copper that is typically found in water from copper plumbing is usually not a health threat.
Using only water from the cold tap for drinking and preparing food can reduce the amount of copper that leaches from plumbing. Running the water until it gets very cold after it has been sitting the pipes overnight or for more than six hours will reduce the copper levels as well. Making sure that no electrical appliances are grounded to the plumbing can reduce corrosion of the pipes.
Water filters can also remove copper from water. Environmental Protection Agency EPA limits the amount of copper in public drinking water supplies to 1. The U. What is Copper? Where is Copper Found? What are the Uses of Copper? A U. Copper can be found in many kinds of food, in drinking water and in air. Because of that we absorb eminent quantities of copper each day by eating, drinking and breathing. The absorption of copper is necessary, because copper is a trace element that is essential for human health.
Although humans can handle proportionally large concentrations of copper, too much copper can still cause eminent health problems. Copper concentrations in air are usually quite low, so that exposure to copper through breathing is negligible. But people that live near smelters that process copper ore into metal, do experience this kind of exposure.
People that live in houses that still have copper plumbing are exposed to higher levels of copper than most people, because copper is released into their drinking water through corrosion of pipes. Occupational exposure to copper often occurs. In the working environment, copper contagion can lead to a flu-like condition known as metal fever. This condition will pass after two days and is caused by over sensitivity. Long-term exposure to copper can cause irritation of the nose, mouth and eyes and it causes headaches, stomachaches, dizziness, vomiting and diarrhea.
Intentionally high uptakes of copper may cause liver and kidney damage and even death. Whether copper is carcinogenic has not been determined yet. There are scientific articles that indicate a link between long-term exposure to high concentrations of copper and a decline in intelligence with young adolescents. Whether this should be of concern is a topic for further investigation. Industrial exposure to copper fumes, dusts, or mists may result in metal fume fever with atrophic changes in nasal mucous membranes.
When copper ends up in soil it strongly attaches to organic matter and minerals. As a result it does not travel very far after release and it hardly ever enters groundwater.
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