Ores can be classed as high grade or low grade depending on the percentage of copper compounds e. Copper ore does not contain pure copper, but either a coppersulphuriron compound chalcopyrite or a. Methods have evolved and vary with country depending on the ore source, local environmental regulations, and other factors. You can use a variety of different processes to separate the copper from the waste. Copper extraction refers to the methods used to obtain copper from its ores.
Project development and operations, second edition, brings together all the technical aspects relevant to modern gold ore processing, offering a practical perspective that is vital to the successful and responsible development, operation, and closure of any gold ore processing operation. You may find specifications and standards that are not relevant to your area. Some of these slags can contain high concentrations of heavy metals, particularly arsenic, cadmium, and lead, leading to their classification as hazardous wastes. To decide whether an ore is worth mining it is necessary to find out how much of the useful mineral it contains, and how much is waste. Note t hat some of these oxidised copper ores contain arsenic. As copper says, you cant force things like that, fred. Before you get too bogged down in the extraction of copper, make sure that you need it for whatever syllabus you are using. In one ore, the main compound is copper carbonate cuco 3. Find the smallest whole number ratio by dividing the number of moles of each element by the number of moles for the element present in the smallest molar amount. You have been asked to outline an economical procedure for isolating ws 2 from the ore and then converting it to elemental tungsten in as few steps as possible. The conversion of copper consists of a series of physical and electrochemical processes. Long after the bronze age passed into the iron age, copper remained the metal second in use and importance to.
Copper also forms an important series of alloys with aluminum, called aluminum bronzes. Copper ii oxide can be reduced by reaction with carbon. Properties of copper ores the problem minerals from which copper can be extracted to make money are called copper ores. Either way, read lightly or deeply, the book is wonderful. Some c opper ores may contain only small amounts of copper. Copper ores the main copper sulphide minerals are chalcopyrite cufes2 chalcocite cu2s, covellite cus, bornite cu5fes4, tetrahedrite cu,fe12sb4s and enargite cu3ass4.
Even though, native copper is sometimes mined on its own for the copper content. Copper later played an important role in the advent of electricity and today is still among our most valued materials. The ore that contains both iron and copper is careers360. Copper extraction from black copper ores through modification of. Cuperic chloride cucl 2, another copper compound, is used to fix dyes to fabrics. The mineral enargite is frequently found with other copper sulfide ores, and the reduction of this mineral would provide arsenic as well as copper. Pdf further evidence for bronze age production of copper. In a hydrometallurgical process for converting zinc sulfide in an ore containing zinc sulfide, the zinc sulfide being chemically converted at elevated temperatures to znso4. Ah, and then theres bunny, which contains perhaps a tongueincheek answer for my dogfocused wanderlust. Copper slag is essentially a ferrous silicate whose range of chemical compositions is shown in table 7. Copper simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Beneficiation of copper ores is done almost exclusively by selective froth flotation. It is a transition metal in the middle of the periodic table. Copper sulfate compounds are used to prevent fungus and algae growth in standing water supplies such as ponds and fountains. Metallurgy depends on the separation of a metal compound from its ore and. The copper ore production process operation as defined in section 3. Methods have evolved and vary with country depending on the ore source.
Copper sulphate for example was an especially important compound in early times. The copper ores are far more abundant than native copper, and are the main source of copper today. Copper is a redorange metal that darkens to a brown color as it is exposed to air. When recycled, it can pass through some stages over and over again. Us5711922a preferential hydrometallurgical conversion of. Many copper ores contain only 2% of copper compounds. Copper is usually found in nature in association with sulfur.
Typically, copper ores contain only 4 percent copper, so the vast majority is waste. Many ores contain relatively low concentrations of the desired metal. All the ores are minerals but all minerals cannot be ores. The only similarity the two have is the fact that both compounds contain copper, which is why both have copper in their respective names. Figure 4 shows the stages used in the extraction of copper from this ore. Copper ores are found in various parts of the world. Coppers atomic symbol cu is derived from the latin term cuprum meaning metal of cyprus. The symbol for copper is cu, which comes from the latin word cuprum, which, in turn, came from the latin word for. This page looks at the extraction of copper from its ores, its purification by electrolysis, and some of its uses. This article presented the behavior of ores containing black copper under acid. Slag, which contains unwanted iron compounds is periodically drained off by. H2o in a conversion solution having a high concentration of h2so4, the improvement comprises. This article presented the behavior of ores containing black copper under acid leaching. Why is copper extracted from ores containing a low percentage of copper compounds.
The remainder of primary production comes from ores in which copper is present as silicates, sulfates, carbonates and oxides, which have been formed by the weathering and oxidation of sulfide minerals. Based upon that oxidation number, an electronic configuration is also given but note that for more exotic compounds you should view this as a guide only. Native copper was the only source of copper until the turn of the century, when extraction methods were improved. There are several ores of copper but more common are sulphide ores as copper pyrite cufes2, along with iron and sulphur other contents are silicates of. In nature, copper in its pure metal form occurs very often. It is used as an agricultural poison, as an algicide in water purification and as a blue pigment for inks. Ores usually contain a compound of the metal, a mineral, together with waste material. Due to the pigmenting effect of copper, chalcanthite, linarite and cyanotrichite are a deep azure. The solution potential was modified by adding agents, and five leaching. Suppose you are working in the chemistry laboratory of a mining company that has discovered a new source of tungsten ore containing about 5% ws 2 in a granite matrix granite is a complex aluminosilicate mineral. Metallurgically from ores, where the chemical compound of copper with oxygen, sulphur or other elements occurs, copper is produced. For each compound, a formal oxidation number for copper is given, but the usefulness of this number is limited for pblock elements in particular. Hydrated copper sulfate cuso 4 h 2 o, also known as blue vitriol, is the best known copper compound. These are called low grade ores and have less than 1% copper but they are still used because copper is so valuable.
The complete classification of minerals geology in. These molecules usually have a sulfur atom at one end and a hydrophobic hydrocarbon. Extracting iron and copper obtaining and using metals edexcel. Copper ores include copper ii oxide and copper ii sulfide. An ore is any rock from which a metal may be extracted. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools.
Study 18 chemistry past paper flashcards from megan f. Copper doesnt make that sort of fantastic life seem effortless or easy, but it does make it seem worthwhile. Discussion of the hardware required for smeltingfurnaces, crucibles. What are the names of compounds in which copper is found. Learn more about the extracting metals only on byjus app. Recovery of copper from oxide copper ore by flotation and leaching kiraz, emirhan m. In addition to their many uses in agriculture and biology, copper salts have an astonishing variety of industrial uses, chiefly of a specialised nature, and there is hardly an industry which does not have some small use for them. Most copper ores contain only a small percentage of copper metal bound up within valuable ore minerals, with the remainder of the ore being unwanted rock or gangue minerals, typically silicate minerals or oxide minerals for which there is often no value. This experiment illustrates one way in which this might be done using a form of colourimetry in which. H 2 o in a conversion solution having a high concentration of h 2 s 4. Sphalerite zinc blende, a mineral of zinc sulfide, is the most common zinc ore. Following is a list of minerals that serve as copper ores in the copper mining process. Rocks containing copper compounds such as copper carbonate are called copper ore.
Copper is now extracted from ores containing a low percentage of copper compounds. Unusually for elements in this area of the periodic table, bismuth compounds are of low. Copper compounds are frequently used for colouring. The copper book for architecture, is distributed in many countries. If youre running a copper mine, most of the ore you start with the material you dig out of the ground is anything but copper. In this equilibration process, oxygen associated with copper compounds. Additional processes are sometimes required to improve the mechanical properties of the metal or increase its purity. Beryllium copper 2 percent be is an unusual copper alloy in that it can be hardened by heat treatment. Gold has almost always traced of silver in its natural mineral form, and it can also contain traces of copper and iron. Engineering metals and their alloys macmillan 1949. Copper is extracted from copper ore by a series of chemical, physical, and electrochemical processes. The largest source of copper is from porphyry ore deposits in which one or a combination of. In some cases, tailings have been retreated to recover lost value as the technology for recovering copper has improved.
Before the copper products usage it has to pa ss through a number of stages. Pure copper metal is generally produced from a multistage process, beginning with the mining and concentrating of lowgrade ores containing copper sulfide minerals, and followed by smelting and electrolytic refining to produce a pure copper cathode. If in doubt, or in case very precise data is required, we recommend our readers to contact the local building construction. There are several copper ores, but they all fall into two main categories. A hydrometallurgical process for converting zinc sulfide in an ore containing zinc sulfide, said zinc sulfide being chemically converted at elevated temperatures to znso 4. Azurite, malachite, and chrysocolla are a few examples of oxides ores.
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