copper processing

Introduction

 use of smelting or leaching, usually followed by electrolytic refining or recovery, to turn the ore into a form from which products can be fashioned. Included in this article also is a discussion of the mining of copper and of its preparation for processing.

      In its pure form or as an alloy, copper (Cu) is one of the most important metals in society. The pure metal has a face-centred cubic crystal structure, and there is no critical temperature at which this crystal structure changes. Consequently, it is ductile and possesses a high level of electrical and thermal conductivity, making it attractive for a wide range of ornamental and practical applications. With cold-working, copper becomes harder, but it can be made soft again with the heat treating process known as annealing.

History

      Copper was discovered and first used during the Neolithic Period, or New Stone Age. Though the exact time of this discovery will probably never be known, it is believed to have been about 8000 BC. Copper is found in the free metallic state in nature; this native copper is the material that humans employed as a substitute for stone. From it they fashioned crude hammers and knives and, later, other utensils. The malleability of the material made it relatively simple to shape implements by beating the metal. Pounding hardened the copper so that more durable edges resulted; the bright reddish colour of the metal and its durability made it highly prized.

      The search for copper during this early period led to the discovery and working of deposits of native copper. Sometime after 6000 BC the discovery was made that the metal could be melted in the campfire and cast into the desired shape. Then followed the discovery of the relation of metallic copper to copper-bearing rock and the possibility of reducing ores to the metal by the use of fire and charcoal. This was the dawn of the metallic age and the birth of metallurgy.

      The early development of copper probably was most advanced in Egypt (Egypt, ancient). As early as 5000 BC, copper weapons and implements were left in graves for the use of the dead. Definite records have been found of the working of copper mines on the Sinai Peninsula about 3800 BC, and the discovery of crucibles at these mines indicates that the art of extracting the metal included some refining. Copper was hammered into thin sheets, and the sheets were formed into pipes and other objects. During this period bronze first appeared. The oldest known piece of this material is a bronze rod found in the pyramid at Maydūm (Medum), near Memphis in Egypt, the date of origin being generally accepted as about 3700 BC.

      Bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, is both harder and tougher than either; it was widely employed to fashion weapons and objects of art. The period of its extensive and characteristic use has been designated the Bronze Age. From Egypt the use of bronze rapidly spread over the Mediterranean area: to Crete in 3000 BC, to Sicily in 2500 BC, to France and other parts of Europe in 2000 BC, and to Britain and the Scandinavian area in 1800 BC.

      About 3000 BC copper was produced extensively on the island of Cyprus. The copper deposits there were highly prized by the successive masters of the island—Egyptians, Assyrians, Phoenicians, Greeks, Persians, and Romans. Cyprus was almost the sole source of copper to the Romans, who called it aes cyprium (“ore of Cyprus”), which was shortened to cyprium and later corrupted to cuprum. From this name comes the English name copper. The first two letters of the Latin name constitute the chemical symbol Cu.

      When copper and bronze were first used in Asia is not known. The epics of the Shu ching mention the use of copper in China as early as 2500 BC, but nothing is known of the state of the art at that time or of the use of the metal prior to that time. Bronze vessels of great beauty made during the Shang dynasty, 1766–1122 BC, have been found, indicating an advanced art. The source of the metals, however, is unknown.

      The Copper Age in the Americas probably dawned between AD 100 and 200. Native copper was mined and used extensively and, though some bronze appeared in South America, its use developed slowly until after the arrival of Columbus and other European explorers. Both North and South America passed more or less directly from the Copper Age into the Iron Age.

      As man learned to fashion his weapons from iron and steel, copper began to assume another role. Being a durable metal and possessed of great beauty, it was used extensively for household utensils and water pipes and for marine uses and other purposes that required resistance to corrosion. The unusual ability of this metal to conduct electric current accounts for its greatest use today.

Ores

 Principal forms in which copper ores are found include native copper, porphyry copper, massive deposits, and mixed ores. Native copper is simply the metal found unadulterated in nature. Occasionally copper is still found in its native form, but more frequently it is mixed with other minerals, some of which may have value themselves. The amount of copper in an ore can vary from 0.4 percent to more than 12 percent. Porphyry copper deposits (porphyry copper deposit), in which the copper materials are more or less uniformly scattered throughout the rock, account for the greatest tonnage of metal in the producing areas of the world. The copper minerals in the upper portions of such deposits are in general oxides (copper chemically combined with oxygen), those in the lower levels sulfides (copper with sulfur). The host rock is porphyry, schist, or other rock. Massive deposits are of higher metal content but of more limited extent; they may be oxidized in the upper portion with sulfides lower down. In mixed ores, nickel, zinc, or lead can accompany the copper; when such ore is mined, these other metals also are refined and sold as by-products. The Table—> shows the ore minerals of copper and their compositions.

      Although commercial deposits of copper ores occur in almost every continent, 70 percent of the world's known reserves are found in seven countries: Chile, the United States, Russia, Congo (Kinshasa), Peru, Zambia, and Mexico. The greatest known reserve of copper ore in one body is the deposit at El Teniente mine in Chile. Many lesser deposits are being exploited, such as those in Canada, China, Australia, and Europe.

mining

      For lower-grade deposits located near the surface, the open-pit method is the most practical for the mining of large tonnages of material. Large track-mounted drills prepare the ore for blasting, and the broken ore is hauled to the ore-dressing plant by truck (at up to 150 tons per load) or conveyor. In underground mining, vertical shafts are sunk well over 1,000 metres (3,300 feet) below the surface, and tunnels are extended to the ore body. The ore, broken by drilling and blasting, is hoisted through the shaft and conveyed to the processing plant. In some cases, primary crushing takes place underground; in others, a ramp and trucks carry ore to the surface.

Extraction and refining

      The extraction of copper from ore is normally carried out in three major steps. The first step, mineral processing, is to liberate the copper minerals and remove waste constituents—such as alumina, limestone, pyrite, and silica—so that the copper minerals and other nonferrous minerals of value are concentrated into a product containing between 20 and 30 percent copper. The second step, involving either smelting or leaching, removes a large proportion of impurity elements—in particular iron and, in the case of sulfide ores, sulfur. The final step, refining, removes the last traces of the impurity elements and produces a copper product of 99.99 percent purity.

mineral processing

      In the ore-dressing plant, the material received from the mine is crushed in several stages and finely ground to a size which ensures that copper minerals are liberated from the waste materials, or gangue. In cases where the next step is leaching (most frequently in the case of oxide ores), complete liberation of the copper minerals is not always necessary; the ore needs to be crushed and ground only to the extent required to expose the surface of the minerals to the leaching agent. For sulfide ores, on the other hand, selective flotation normally follows the crushing and grinding stage and requires an optimal degree of liberation.

      In the flotation process, the finely ground ore, mixed with water and special reagents, is agitated by mechanical and pneumatic devices. These produce air bubbles in the ore-water mixture, or slurry. The reagents provide an attraction between the surface of the copper minerals and the air bubbles. As the bubbles rise to the surface, they carry the copper minerals with them, leaving gangue minerals in the cell to be discarded as tailings. Collection of the froth from the surface of the flotation cell yields a copper concentrate. To increase the recovery of copper and reduce losses, the tailings are frequently reground and passed through a second flotation, the concentrate from which is combined with the initial production. The flotation concentrate is then dewatered and filtered to produce a filter cake that is sent to a copper smelter.

Roasting, smelting, and converting

      Once a concentrate has been produced containing copper and other metals of value (such as gold and silver), the next step is to remove impurity elements. In older processes the concentrate, containing between 5 and 10 percent water, is first roasted in a cylindrical, refractory-lined furnace of either the hearth or fluidized-bed type. As concentrate is fed into the roaster, it is heated by a stream of hot air to about 590° C (1,100° F). Volatile impurities such as arsenic, mercury, and some of the sulfur are driven off, the sulfur being removed as sulfur dioxide. What remains is an oxidized product containing a percentage of sulfur that is sufficiently low for smelting. This is traditionally done in a reverberatory or electric-arc furnace, into which concentrate is fed along with a suitable amount of flux, usually silica and occasionally limestone. These are heated by combusted fuel or electric current to a temperature of 1,230°–1,300° C (2,250°–2,370° F), producing an artificial copper-iron sulfide that settles in a molten pool at the bottom of the furnace. The sulfide material, known as matte, contains from 45 to 70 percent copper, depending on the particular process. Gangue minerals and oxidized impurities, including most of the iron, react with the flux and form a light, fluid layer of slag over the matte. A certain percentage of the volatile impurities, such as sulfur, is oxidized and leaves with the process gas stream.

      The traditional two-stage process described above has to a large extent been replaced by newer flash or bath smelting processes. These begin with a dry concentrate containing less than 1 percent water, which, along with flux, is contacted in a furnace by a blast of oxygen or oxygen-enriched air. Iron and sulfur are oxidized, and the heat generated by these exothermic reactions is sufficient to smelt the concentrate to a liquid matte and slag. Depending on the composition of the concentrate, it is possible to carry out smelting autogenously—that is, without the use of auxiliary fuel, as is required in reverberatory or electric-arc smelting. In addition to reducing the consumption of fuel, the new processes produce relatively low volumes of gas, which, being high in sulfur dioxide, is well suited to the production of sulfuric acid. New smelters are designed to capture 90 percent or more of the sulfur contained in the feed materials.

 After the slag, which contains a large percentage of the impurity elements, is removed from the matte, the remaining iron and sulfur are removed in the conversion process. The converter is a cylindrical steel shell, normally about four metres in diameter and lined with refractory brick. After being charged with matte, flux, and copper scrap (to control temperature), the converter is rotated in order to immerse tuyeres in the molten bath. Air or oxygen-enriched air is then blown through the tuyeres into the fluid. Iron and sulfur are converted to oxides and are removed in either the gas stream or the slag (the latter being recycled for the recovery of remaining values), leaving a “blister” copper containing between 98.5 and 99.5 percent copper and up to 0.8 percent oxygen. The converter is rotated for skimming the slag and pouring the blister copper.

      The conversion of liquid matte in a rotating converter is a batch operation, but newer continuous processes utilize stationary furnaces similar to those used in smelting. Continuous systems have the advantage of reducing the gaseous and particulate emissions normally produced during conversion.

      The final step consists of fire refining the blister copper to reduce the sulfur and oxygen to even lower levels. This oxidation-reduction process is usually carried out in a separate furnace to ensure that the final smelter product reaches the level of 99.5 percent copper that is required for electrolytic refining. At this point, the copper is cast into anodes, the shape and weight of which are dictated by the particular electrolytic refinery.

Leaching

      Occasionally adopted in preference to smelting (or pyrometallurgy, as it is generally known), leaching, or hydrometallurgy, is carried out at lower temperatures and thus eliminates the generation of sulfur dioxide; there are, however, effluents and residues that must be treated in order to protect the environment. In the hydrometallurgical processes, the ore or concentrate is brought into close contact with a leach solution (frequently sulfuric acid) that dissolves the copper and leaves a residue of gangue (and frequently precious metals). Various systems, some quite complex, are used to bring copper minerals into contact with the leach solution, wash and filter the residue, and finally purify the solution to remove dissolved iron and other impurities. Solvent extraction using organic solvents is of great importance in the purification of leach solutions and in the concentrating of dissolved copper into smaller volumes. Copper from very dilute solutions was formerly recovered by cementation on scrap iron; this produced an intermediate product that was usually returned to a smelter. Modern solvent extraction, on the other hand, has led to some procedures in which an acid-rich solution percolating through even relatively low-grade ores can produce a solution that can be made sufficiently concentrated for electrorefining.

Electrorefining

      This is the final step in both pyro- and hydrometallurgical processing. In the electrolytic process (electrolysis), copper anodes and starting sheets are immersed in an electrolytic solution made up of copper sulfate and sulfuric acid. An electric current is passed through the solution, and copper from the positively charged anode is deposited in a pure form on the negatively charged starting sheet, which acts as a cathode. Minor impurities, including precious metals, settle at the bottom of the cell as anode slimes for further processing. Copper in solution from a hydrometallurgical process is recovered in a similar electrolytic cell using a lead anode. Here, the electric current removes the copper from solution rather than from the anode, for deposition on a cathode starter sheet (when the metal is plated from solution in this manner, the process is known as electrowinning). Both processes are capable of producing cathode copper of more than 99.9 percent purity.

Albert Wilbur Schlechten John Campbell Taylor

The metal and its alloys (alloy)

      The major portion of the world's production of copper is utilized by electrical industries; most of the remainder is combined with other metals to form alloys. In variety of uses, the alloys of copper surpass all other nonferrous alloys and comprise mixtures of copper with zinc, tin, nickel, aluminum, lead, manganese, and other elements.

Electrical conductors

      Typical samples of electrolytic copper contain from 99.92 to 99.96 percent copper. About 0.03 percent oxygen is purposely left in the copper, since this amount slightly improves the density and conductivity of the metal. Copper in this condition has a conductivity of 100 to 102 percent of the International Annealed Copper Standard. Following this standard, 100 percent denotes a resistance of 0.15328 ohm for a length of one metre (39.37 inches) weighing one gram (¹/₂₈ ounce) at 20° C (68° F); this standard has been universally adopted for industrial purposes.

      For making copper wire, electrolytic copper may be cast into wirebars, which are made in several standard sizes varying in weight from 60 to 225 kilograms (135 to 500 pounds). The wirebars are then reheated to 700° to 850° C (1,290° to 1,560° F) and are rolled without further reheating to rods approximately 10 millimetres (0.375 inch) in diameter. (Copper cathodes may be cast directly as continuous rod, thereby eliminating the intermediate stage of wirebar production.) The rod is drawn cold into wire, through dies of successively smaller diameters until the desired size is reached. The dies are usually of tungsten carbide; for finer wires, diamond dies are used.

      Much copper wire is marketed in the form of bare coils; a considerable tonnage is subsequently covered with paper, fabric, rubber, plastic, or other insulating material for use in the form of covered conductors. Much of the wire is also supplied stranded; all these operations are carried out on special machines that are largely automatic in operation.

      Copper cables are often covered to render them resistant to moisture. Lead covering, extruded onto the outside of the cable, often is used; hemp or metal armouring sometimes may be added for additional protection.

      The electrical industries also use large quantities of bare copper strip for incorporation in electrical machinery. This ribbonlike form of the metal is produced mainly from wirebars that are rolled in a mill similar to that used for the production of wire. Copper strip of greater width and much thinner gauge also is produced in long lengths and supplied in the form of coils.

Sheet and strip

      The term copper strip as distinct from copper sheet is usually applied to material less than 60 centimetres (24 inches) wide that is supplied in long lengths. The majority of the strip used is less than 30 centimetres wide. In the preliminary stages of manufacture, the copper castings are rolled hot, but in the later stages all the rolling is carried out cold, the material being coiled on drums on each side of the rolling mills. Material produced by this method is of extremely even gauge and possesses an exceptionally good surface finish. The coils can be handled easily and are in general use for the manufacture of stampings in the electrical and other industries. Copper strip is supplied in various degrees of hardness according to the rolling it has received subsequent to the last annealing. These various tempers are selected according to the amount of subsequent mechanical deformation to which they will be subjected.

      Copper sheets are produced by somewhat similar methods of manufacture. In the United States the majority of copper sheets are made from electrolytic copper, but in Europe fire-refined copper is used frequently in the manufacture of sheets and plates.

brass

      Brass is an alloy consisting mainly if not exclusively of copper and zinc. The brasses may be conveniently divided into two groups according to their malleability, the dividing line being approximately the composition of 55 percent copper and 45 percent zinc. All the higher copper alloys are workable either hot or cold and in some cases both hot and cold, while the remainder are not malleable at all. The unworkable brasses, known as the white brasses, are not industrially important.

      The general mechanical properties of brass vary widely; indeed, it is this wide range in tensile strength, elongation, and hardness that makes brass such an important alloy. Brass is readily drawn into fine wire, rolled into very thin strips, or drawn into tubes and extruded as rods or sections.

bronze

      Bronze, an alloy formed by adding tin to copper, fuses at a lower temperature than copper and is thus better suited for casting; it also is harder and less malleable. A soft bronze or gunmetal is formed from 16 parts of copper to one of tin; a harder gunmetal, such as that used in the past for bronze cannon, contained about eight parts copper for each part of tin.

      Bronze is made harder and stronger when it is alloyed with phosphorus. Alloys prepared in this way, known as phosphor bronzes (phosphor bronze), may contain only about 1 percent phosphorus in the ingot and a mere trace after casting, but their value is nevertheless enhanced for purposes in which a hard, strong metal is required, as for pumps, plungers, valves, and the bushings of bearings.

      Copper also forms an important series of alloys with aluminum (aluminum processing), classed under the general term aluminum bronzes (aluminum bronze). They may be classified into two main groups: those containing up to 7.5 percent aluminum are extremely ductile, whereas those containing 8 to 11 percent possess high tensile strength in the cast state. The ductile alloys containing less than 7.5 percent are especially useful for deep stamping, spinning, and severe cold-working of all kinds. They are useful as a substitute for brass and possess greater strength and resistance to atmospheric corrosion.

      Silicon bronze usually contains about 96 percent copper. The remainder may be silicon alone, but more often a little manganese, tin, iron, or zinc also is added. These alloys were developed originally for the chemical industry because of their exceptional resistance to corrosion in many liquids. Their application later extended far beyond this field, chiefly because of their good casting qualities, strength, hardness, and ease of welding.

      Manganese bronze is made in several varieties, exhibiting a range of compositions and properties. One type is in reality a brass to which a very small amount of manganese has been added as a deoxidizer, less than 0.5 percent manganese remaining in the alloy. Another kind contains 2 to 5 percent manganese together with 2 to 4 percent iron and 3 to 7.5 percent aluminum. It has exceptionally high strength and is called high-tensile manganese bronze, or manganese-aluminum bronze.

Copper-nickel (nickel)

      Because copper and nickel are completely miscible (i.e., they mix thoroughly) in the solid state, forming a complete series of solid solutions, the useful range of alloys is not confined within any definite limits of composition, although certain compositions have come into general use. Additions of 2 to 45 percent nickel to copper provide a series of alloys that are considerably stronger and more resistant to oxidation at high temperatures than is copper. Of these cupronickels, the one containing 30 percent nickel is the most important; it is widely used for steam-condenser tubes.

      The alloy formed of 20 percent nickel with the remainder copper is one of the most ductile of commercial alloys and may be subjected to the most severe cold-working without the need of any intermediate annealing. It is also readily forged and rolled at a temperature above 800° C (1,470° F). These properties make it a suitable alloy for drop forgings and cold stamping and pressing. It has also found a variety of uses in automobile construction for exposed fittings, as it takes a high polish and is resistant to atmospheric tarnishing. Other uses include bullet sheathing, a widespread application. Another alloy in this series, containing either 45 percent or 40 percent nickel, became widely known under the name constantan. It has high electrical resistance, which remains almost constant over a wide temperature range.

       Monel metal is a so-called natural alloy prepared by the reduction of a copper-nickel ore; it contains 65 to 70 percent nickel, iron and manganese in small amounts, and certain impurities that influence its properties to some extent. It has been widely used for various engineering and ornamental purposes and possesses exceptionally high strength at both normal and elevated temperatures. Alloys of similar nickel content are also manufactured by melting nickel and copper together.

Beryllium-copper (beryllium)

      Unlike many kinds of steel, most copper alloys are not susceptible to improvements of hardness and strength by processes of heat treatment. One useful exception is the heat-treatable alloy beryllium-copper. This consists of copper and about 2 percent beryllium, with or without a smaller addition of nickel or cobalt. When beryllium-copper is heated to about 800° C (1,470° F), quenched in cold water, and then reheated to 275° C (525° F), it develops a tensile strength comparable to some of the stronger varieties of steel.

Allison Butts John Campbell Taylor

Chemical compounds

      Copper forms two series of compounds, one in which it exhibits a valence (degree of combining power) of 1 (cuprous) and the other a valence of 2 (cupric); several unstable compounds in which a valence of 3 is exhibited are also known. Since the cuprous ion is unstable in aqueous solution, its salts readily decompose to form the metal and cupric salts.

Oxides (oxide)

      Copper forms two oxides in accordance with its two valences: cuprous oxide, Cu₂O, and cupric oxide, CuO. Cuprous oxide, a red crystalline material, can be produced by electrolytic or furnace methods. It is reduced readily by hydrogen, carbon monoxide, charcoal, or iron to metallic copper. It imparts a red colour to glass and is used for antifouling paints. It is soluble in mineral acids to form colourless cuprous salts, most of which rapidly oxidize to the cupric state. Cupric oxide, a black powder, can be prepared by the ignition of suitable salts such as the carbonate, the hydroxide, or the nitrate of copper, or by heating of cuprous oxide. This compound oxidizes carbon compounds and finds a wide laboratory and commercial use for this purpose. Since it imparts a green colour to glass, it is used extensively for that purpose. It is soluble in mineral acids and forms with them blue or green solutions.

Halides

      Cuprous chloride, CuCl, can be prepared by treating metallic copper and cuprous oxide with hydrochloric acid or by treating metallic copper and cupric chloride with hydrochloric acid. The hydrochloric acid solution of cuprous chloride readily absorbs carbon monoxide and acetylene and is used for this purpose in gas analysis. Cupric chloride, CuCl₂, can be prepared by dissolving cupric oxide in hydrochloric acid. This material finds some use as the base salt for the manufacture of pigments. Cuprous iodide, CuI, is prepared by the direct combination of copper and iodine. Cupric iodide, CuI₂, exists only in combination with ammonium salts or in complex organic compounds.

Sulfates (sulfate)

      Cupric sulfate, CuSO₄, commonly known as blue vitriol, is the most important salt of copper. It usually crystallizes as CuSO₄ · 5H₂O and has a bright blue colour. It is prepared by the treatment of copper oxides with sulfuric acid. While readily soluble in water, it is insoluble in alcohol. The anhydrous salt is hygroscopic and is useful as a desiccating agent. Copper is readily displaced from aqueous solutions of the salt by metallic iron. Copper sulfate is the basic salt in the electrolytic refining of copper, and it also finds wide use in the preparation of pigments.

Carbonates (carbonate)

      Basic copper carbonates are formed when an alkaline carbonate is added to the solution of a copper salt. These compounds, which have a bright blue or green colour and are used in the preparation of pigments, occur in nature as the minerals azurite and malachite.

Other compounds

      Copper forms a series of salts with arsenic, all of which are bright green in colour and poisonous. Wide application has been made of these compounds in the production of insecticides; some copper salts are used as superficial antiseptics. Cupric nitrate, Cu(NO₃)₂, can be prepared by dissolving metallic copper in nitric acid. The hydrated crystals are deep blue in colour. Copper silicates occur in nature and impart blue colour to many minerals.

Albert Wilbur Schlechten

Additional Reading

Comprehensive and up-to-date information on many aspects of metallurgy, individual metals, and alloys can be found in convenient reference-form arrangement in the following works: Metals Handbook, 9th ed., 17 vol. (1978–89), a massive and detailed source prepared under the direction of the American Society for Metals, with a 10th edition that began publication in 1990; Herman F. Mark et al. (eds.), Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, 3rd ed., 31 vol. (1978–84), formerly known as Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, with a 4th edition begun in 1991; and its European counterpart, the first English-language edition of a monumental German work, Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, 5th, completely rev. ed., edited by Wolfgang Gerhartz et al. (1985– ). Ed.Anil K. Biswas and W.G. Davenport, Extractive Metallurgy of Copper, 2nd ed. (1980), is a comprehensive text detailing the mineral processing as well as the hydrometallurgical and pyrometallurgical processes commonly used for the extraction of copper from ores; it includes operating data on selected plants around the world. Joseph R. Boldt, Jr., The Winning of Nickel: Its Geology, Mining, and Extractive Metallurgy (1967), covers geology, mining, mineral processing, and extractive metallurgy of nickel and associated metals such as copper and cobalt. John Campbell Taylor

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