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The Miraculous Journey of Copper: Do you know how copper ore is transformed into metal?
The extraction process of copper is a complex and diverse process involving various physical, chemical and electrochemical methods to extract metallic copper from ores. As technology advances, refining methods vary from country to country, with these changes covering mineral sources, local environmental regulations and other influencing factors.
The use of copper has a long history, which can be traced back to 7480 BC. The ancient copper cultural records in North America are one of the earliest copper ore extraction technologies in the world.
Historical background
Human extraction of copper can be traced back to the Neolithic Age. The earliest copper was cold forged into artifacts. Objects such as those excavated at Çayönü Tepesi in eastern Turkey, possibly dated between 7200 and 6600 BC, show that early humans were already utilizing copper. Israel's Timna Valley is the oldest copper mining area, having been exploited as early as 4000 BC.
Smelting process
Until the second half of the 20th century, smelting sulfide ore was almost the only way to extract copper metal. Since 2002, 80% of global raw copper production has come from copper-iron-sulfur minerals, with the vast majority extracted through smelting. Traditionally, smelting operations have been located close to mining to reduce transportation costs. As copper is mined, its metal content gradually decreases, so the ore needs to be concentrated first and then smelted to reduce energy costs.
The development of froth flotation technology marks a major advancement in mineral processing, which effectively improves copper extraction efficiency and reduces losses.
Concentration technology
In the 21st century, the average grade of copper ore is less than 0.6%, and the proportion of economically extractable minerals is less than 2% of the total ore volume. Therefore, all mining operations must be enriched. The usual treatment method is to use submersible equipment to separate minerals and increase the concentration with the help of froth flotation technology.
Foam flotation method
During froth flotation, crushed ore is mixed with water and chemicals to cause sulfide minerals to attach to air bubbles. These bubbles rise to the surface to form a foam from which concentrated copper minerals are collected. Sometimes, secondary processing is performed to remove other unwanted mineral impurities, further improving the purity of the copper.
Hydrogen metallurgy technology
Hydrogen metallurgical technology is commonly used to extract copper oxide ores, that is, oxides are leached through heap leaching or dumping. In this process, sulfuric acid leaches the copper, followed by solvent extraction to purify the copper retentate.
Choosing the right extraction method is critical because the chemical composition and physical properties of different ore types can significantly affect extraction efficiency.
Smelting and conversion process
The copper content in copper slag from smelting is mostly between 30% and 70%. This stage involves removing nickel and sulfur from the molten copper slag. The smelted product is called expanded copper and has a purity of up to 98%. This system can not only generate efficient copper metal, but also produce by-products such as sulfuric acid, which further promotes environmental protection and resource recycling.
Refining process
After smelting is completed, copper needs to be further purified through fire refining to finally obtain high-quality copper metal. In this process, attention is also paid to the management of energy consumption and operational safety.
This series of extraction processes derived from copper ore not only represents the evolution of a technology, but is also part of the development of human society. The refining of copper seems ordinary, but it contains multiple scientific principles and technical challenges. Facing different ship ore types and growing demand, future extraction technology will face a major test of how to optimize efficiency and protect the environment?
