Background:

Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (Latin: cuprum) and atomic
number 29. It is a ductile metal, with very high thermal and electrical conductivity.
Pure copper is rather soft and malleable, and a freshly exposed surface has a
reddish-orange color. It is used as a thermal conductor, an electrical conductor, a
building material, and a constituent of various metal alloys, most notably brass and
bronze. Copper is used extensively for electrical wiring and plumbing in buildings.
Copper is known to have antimicrobial properties. It is also an important nutrient. It
is widely believed that copper jewelry can help wearer conquer diseases.

Usage

Copper is widely used in the following industries:

• Electrical/Electronic

• Construction

• Transportation

• Consumer/General

• Industrial Machinery

Industry %
Electrical/Electroni 42
c
Construction 28
Transportation 12
Consumer/General 9
Industrial 9
Machinery
Source: LME/ Standard CIB Global Research Total 100
www.standardbank.co.za

1. Electrical/Electronic

Due to its ductile nature it is used as wire, electromagnets, electrical relays,

busbars and switches. Integrated circuits, as well as Printed circuit boards
increasingly feature copper in place of aluminium because of its superior
electrical conductivity. Further it has also started getting used as a material
in the manufacture of computer heat sinks, as a result of its superior heat
dissipation capacity to aluminium. Other uses include (but are not limited to)
vacuum tubes, cathode ray tubes, and the magnetrons in microwave ovens
use copper, as also wave guides for microwave radiation.
 2. Construction

Beyond its use in wiring, lightweight copper roofing shingles are increasingly
being used in construction as roofing material. This traditional use in
architecture (roofs, façades, etc) apart, copper is also finding increasing
usage in solar thermal systems and in water, gas and heating pipe-work.

3. Transportation

Copper is widely used in aeroplanes, cars, trucks and high-speed trains (e.g.
electric motors, radiators, hybrid technologies). As an example, Copper finds
usage in diesel-electric railroad locomotives as fabricated copper conductor
bars for the rotors of their six three-phase AC-induction motors and copper
wire for winding the stators. Other engines rely on copper-wound generators;
copper-and-brass radiators for cooling; copper tube for refrigeration, air-
conditioning and heating; as well as huge quantities of copper wire for power
and communications.

It also finds usage in electrical and non-electrical components of automobiles.

4. Consumer/General

Copper finds usage in a wide variety of consumer electronic goods on

account of its ductile and malleable nature. Other uses include biomedical
applications as well as various alloys.

5. Industrial Machinery

Copper is starting to be used in small-footprint, higher-efficiency boilers.

Copper-alloy inserts and core pins are used extensively in problem areas of
the plastics molding process because of copper's excellent thermal
conductivity. Copper fittings and tools are also gaining greater acceptance.

On a side-note, European Copper Institute noted that:

On average, a car contains 20 kg of copper.

400 different copper alloys exist, all with unique properties, and are used in numerous
applications.
42% of the copper demand in Europe is met from recycling.
1 mg of copper per day is essential to maintain good health in adults.
3.4 tonnes of copper in a turbine enable wind energy to be converted into electricity

10,000,000 disease-causing germs, such

asstaphylococcus aureus, can be killed by 1cm² of copper in a few hours.

Copper is 100% recyclable ad infinitum.
Copper Production:

More than 95% of all copper ever mined and smelted has been extracted since
1900. While the total amount of copper on Earth is vast (around 1014 tons just in
the top kilometer of Earth's crust, or about 5 million years worth at the current rate
of extraction), only a tiny fraction of these reserves is economically viable, 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.

Region %
Asia 43
Americas 32
Europe 19
Africa 4
Oceania 2
Total 100

Source: LME/WBMS www.world-bureau.com

Most copper ore is mined or extracted as copper sulfides from large open pit mines
in porphyry copper deposits that contain 0.4 to 1.0% copper.

Copper production is