Copper ore is a natural mineral, consisting of various chemical elements. Formulations that are beneficial to process should include 0.5-1% of the main component. Nickel is considered another important element of the ore.

Deposits on the world map

The largest ore reserves are located in Chile - 34% of the world's. The USA and Peru each contain 9% of the fossil deposits. Eastern Siberia, the Urals and the Kola Peninsula account for 5% of the deposits.

World copper deposits are located on the African continent, in South America, Canada, Australia. From European countries Poland is richest in them. Deposits are known in China and Mongolia.

Porphyry and vein deposits are located in the Western Pacific belt, Mediterranean regions. They are possessed by Kazakhstan, Armenia, Uzbekistan.

Varieties of copper ores

Classification of ore by genetic and geological features:

  • stratiform - these are sandstones and shales;
  • pyrite - vein copper and nuggets;
  • hydrothermal - it is called the porphyry copper form;
  • skarn rocks;
  • igneous - this ore contains nickel;
  • carbonate - have iron-copper and carbonatite composition.






Natural minerals containing copper

Sulfide ore, its composition is determined by the expression Cu5FeS4. There are two polymorphic species - low-temperature and high-temperature. The melting point of which, respectively, is less or more than 228 degrees.

There is an early unstable sulfide, easily destroyed by water and wind. Another type is endogenous, has a non-permanent chemical composition due to impurities of such elements as galena, pyrite, chalcocite, chalcopyrite. Bornite is called motley pyrites. The characteristics of these minerals depend on their origin.

The formula CuFeS2 determines its composition. Known as copper pyrite. Refers to polymetallic. May exist as skarns and mountain greisens.

Contains 79.8% copper and 20.2% . Very beautiful, the mirror surface has a grayish tint, sometimes black.

There are rare fossils containing elements of copper:

  • cuprite (Cu2O), an oxide, seen among malachite and nugget deposits;
  • covelline, contains 66.5% of the main element and sulfur. First found in the vicinity of Mount Vesuvius. Produced in the USA, Greece, Chile;
  • malachite. A stone that is used for various crafts. polymetallic ore. Nizhny Tagil is a place of large deposits of this mineral;
  • azurite This is azure stone of blue color. The main places of its extraction are Africa, Australia, England, Balkan countries. Occurs near sulfide deposits.

Porphyry copper forms include molybdenum, gold, chalcopyrite, pyrite. They are found in the deposits of the poor rocks. They have the form of vein inclusions of the stockwork type.

Mineral extraction methods

Depending on the depth of occurrence, the ore is mined by an open or closed method. There are standards that determine the expediency of the depth of excavation of soil layers, the use of technologies that reduce their cost.

The work technology includes the following:

  • the use of self-propelled equipment;
  • production directly extracting ore;
  • filling voids with materials to make further work safe.

When fossils are selected in layers, this ensures their fullest use. For quarries of great depth, the technology of cyclical-in-line work is suitable, it depends on the characteristics of the occurrence of layers.

When the layers occur at a depth of 500 to 1000 m and deeper, a closed method of copper mining is convenient. This requires vibratory mechanisms, continuous excavation of the rock and its delivery to the surface. The voids formed underground are filled; for this, pipes lined with rubber or basalt resin are used.

It is economically advantageous to locate the mineral processing industry in close proximity to the places of their extraction. It is also necessary to build plants for the disposal of waste after processing. This may help to identify different useful products. For example, the processing of sulfur dioxide makes it possible to obtain useful fertilizers containing sulfur.

Production technologies

The mined ore has a low concentration of copper. To obtain one ton of metal, on average, 200 tons of ore will be needed. To extract it, the modern metallurgical industry uses the following technologies:

  • hydrometallurgical;
  • pyrometallurgical;
  • electrolysis.

The pyrometallurgical method of rock enrichment uses chalcopyrite for processing. This common technology uses two stages of work. The first is oxidative roasting, the so-called flotation. The resulting crude concentrate contains 10–35% pure substance. Then copper is refined and vitriol is added to the solution. As a result, almost one hundred percent purity is isolated.

With the hydrometallurgical method, the metal is leached, then sulfuric acid is added. As a result, a solution is obtained in which copper and various metals are released, which can be precious. This technology is applicable to the production of copper from poor breeds.

For oxidative roasting of minerals with a high sulfur content, the ore is heated to 700-8000 degrees, while the amount of sulfur is halved. It turns out an alloy of sulfides. Side blowing in the convector allows you to get blister copper 91%. For a higher purity of the metal, electrolytic refining takes place, and a 99% composition is obtained.

In industry, this element in its pure form is practically not used. The most famous alloys are:

  • brass - alloy with zinc;
  • bronze - with tin;
  • various babbits - an alloy with lead;
  • cupronickel - nickel is added to the composition;
  • duralumin - connection with aluminum;
  • jewelry alloys, where gold is added in various percentages.






Areas of use

One area of ​​application is the electrical industry. Cables and electric wires include strands of pure metal, which increases their electrical conductivity. Alloys with nickel are suitable for instrument making, compounds with tungsten are filaments in light bulbs.

Brass is used in food and chemical industry. IN agriculture copper is used as a fertilizer. blue vitriol known to gardeners, plants are treated with it to protect against diseases and pests.

In construction, such alloys are simply irreplaceable. The roof covering with the patina formed on it has beautiful view and very durable.

The medical industry can't do without it chemical element. Widely used in medicines.

In mechanical engineering, bearings, heat exchangers, and various structural elements of mechanisms are made of bronze. The metal is used in powder metallurgy for the manufacture of friction parts.

world reserves

Copper is a non-ferrous metal that is consumed by many industries. The most profitable ore for production is bornite. This is due to its high content and large deposits in the world's bowels. Rocks containing 0.5–1% of copper are suitable for mining. The most common ores with nickel additives. They make up 90% of all copper-bearing minerals that are economically beneficial for the mining industry.

The largest copper deposits are located in Chile - 34% of all world reserves, which is 140 million tons.

The states with the largest reserves in the world are: the USA - 35 million tons, Indonesia - 35, Peru - 30, Australia - 24, China - 26, Russia - 20.

The global reserves of copper-bearing ores are estimated at 467 million tons. Geologists say that there are about 5 billion tons of deposits of such ore in the world's oceans.

Copper, which is actively used in almost all industries, is mined from various ores, the most common of which is bornite. The popularity of this copper ore is explained not only by the high content of copper in its composition, but also by the significant reserves of bornite in the bowels of our planet.

Deposits of copper ores

Copper ores are an accumulation of minerals, which, in addition to copper, contain other elements that form their properties, in particular nickel. The category of copper ores includes those types of ores in which this metal contains such an amount that it is economically feasible to extract it by industrial methods. Such conditions are satisfied by ores, the copper content of which is in the range of 0.5–1%. Our planet has a reserve of copper-bearing resources, the bulk of which (90%) are copper-nickel ores.

Most of the copper ore reserves in Russia are located in Eastern Siberia, on the Kola Peninsula, in the Ural region. Chile is on the list of leaders in terms of total reserves of such ores, deposits are also being developed in following countries: USA (porphyry ores), Kazakhstan, Zambia, Poland, Canada, Armenia, Zaire, Peru (porphyry ores), Congo, Uzbekistan. Experts have calculated that the large deposits of all countries of copper contain about 680 million tons in total. Naturally, the question of how copper is mined in various countries, must be considered separately.

All deposits of copper ores are divided into several categories that differ in genetic and industrial-geological characteristics:

  • stratiform group represented by copper shales and sandstones;
  • pyrite type ores, which include native and gangue copper;
  • hydrothermal, including ores called porphyry copper;
  • igneous, which are represented by the most common ores of the copper-nickel type;
  • ores of skarn type;
  • carbonate, represented by ores of iron-copper and carbonatite type.
In Russia, it is carried out mainly at deposits of shale and sand type, in which the ore is contained in copper pyrite, copper-nickel and copper-porphyry forms.

Natural compounds with copper content

Pure copper, which is its nuggets, is present in nature in very small quantities. Basically, copper is present in nature in the form of various compounds, the most common of which are the following.

  • Bornite is a mineral that got its name in honor of the Czech scientist I. Born. This is a sulfide ore, the chemical composition of which is characterized by its formula - Cu5FeS4. Bornite has other names: motley pyrite, copper purple. In nature, this ore is presented in two polymorphic types: low-temperature tetragonal-scalenohedral (temperature less than 228 degrees) and high-temperature cubic-hexaoctahedral (more than 228 degrees). This mineral may different kinds and depending on their origin. Thus, exogenous bornite is a secondary early sulfide, which is very unstable and easily destroyed during weathering. The second type - endogenous bornite - is characterized by the variability of the chemical composition, which may contain chalcocite, galena, sphalerite, pyrite and chalcopyrite. Theoretically, minerals of these types can include in their composition from 25.5% sulfur, more than 11.2% iron and more than 63.3% copper, but in practice this content of these elements is never maintained.
  • Chalcopyrite is a mineral whose chemical composition is characterized by the formula CuFeS2. Chalcopyrite, which is of hydrothermal origin, was formerly called copper pyrite. Along with sphalerite and galena, it is included in the category of polymetallic ores. This mineral, which, in addition to copper, contains iron and sulfur in its composition, is formed as a result of metamorphic processes and can be present in two types of copper ores: contact-metasomatic type (skarns) and mountainous metasomatic (greisens).
  • Chalkozine is a sulfide ore whose chemical composition is characterized by the formula Cu2S. Such ore contains in its composition a significant amount of copper (79.8%) and sulfur (20.2%). This ore is often referred to as "copper sheen" because its surface appears like a gleaming metal that ranges from lead gray to completely black. In copper-bearing ores, chalcocite appears as dense or fine-grained inclusions.

In nature, there are also rarer minerals that contain copper in their composition.

  • Cuprite (Cu2O), which belongs to the minerals of the oxide group, can often be found in places where there is malachite and native copper.
  • Covellin is a sulfide rock formed metasomatically. For the first time this mineral, the copper content of which is 66.5%, was discovered at the beginning of the century before last in the vicinity of Vesuvius. Now covellin is actively mined in deposits in such countries as the USA, Serbia, Italy, Chile.
  • Malachite is a mineral well known to everyone as an ornamental stone. Surely everyone has seen products from this beautiful mineral in the photo or even own them. Malachite, which is very popular in Russia, is carbonic copper green or copper dihydrocoxcarbonate, which belongs to the category of polymetallic copper-bearing ores. Found malachite indicates that nearby there are deposits of other minerals containing copper. In our country, a large deposit of this mineral is located in the Nizhny Tagil region, it was previously mined in the Urals, but now its reserves there are significantly depleted and are not being developed.
  • Azurite is a mineral that is also called "copper blue" because of its blue color. It is characterized by a hardness of 3.5-4 units, its main deposits are developed in Morocco, Namibia, Congo, England, Australia, France and Greece. Azurite often coalesces with malachite and occurs in places where deposits of copper-bearing ores of the sulfide type are located nearby.

Copper production technologies

In order to extract copper from the minerals and ores that we discussed above, three technologies are used in modern industry: hydrometallurgical, pyrometallurgical and electrolysis. The pyrometallurgical copper enrichment technique, which is the most common, uses chalcopyrite as a raw material. This technology involves the execution of several sequential operations. At the first stage, the enrichment of copper ore is carried out, for which oxidative roasting or flotation is used.

The flotation method is based on the fact that the waste rock and its parts, which contain copper, are wetted differently. When the entire rock mass is placed in a bath with a liquid composition in which air bubbles form, that part of it that contains mineral elements, is transported by these bubbles to the surface, sticking to them. As a result, a concentrate is collected on the surface of the bath - blister copper, in which this metal contains from 10 to 35%. It is from such a powdery concentrate that the rest occurs.

Oxidative roasting looks somewhat different, with the help of which copper ores containing a significant amount of sulfur are enriched. This technology involves heating the ore to a temperature of 700–8000, as a result of which sulfides are oxidized and the sulfur content in copper ore is reduced by almost two times. After such roasting, enriched ore is melted in reverberatory or shaft furnaces at a temperature of 14500, as a result of which matte is obtained - an alloy consisting of copper and iron sulfides.

Copper ore is a compound of minerals in which copper is present in sufficient concentration for its further processing and use for industrial purposes. In production, it is advisable to use enriched ore with a metal content of at least 0.5-1%.

Copper- a plastic element of a golden-pink hue. In the open air, the metal is immediately covered with an oxygen film, which gives it a specific red-yellow color.

Characteristic properties: corrosion resistance, high thermal and electrical conductivity.

At the same time, the element is characterized by high antibacterial properties, destroys influenza viruses and staphylococci.

In the industrial complex, copper is most often used in alloys with other components: nickel, zinc, tin, gold, etc.

Due to its low resistivity, copper is actively used in the electrical field for the manufacture of power cables and wires. Good thermal conductivity allows the use of this metal in cooling radiators and air conditioners.

The following industries cannot do without copper:

  • mechanical engineering (window regulators, bearings);
  • shipbuilding (plating of hulls and structures);
  • construction (pipes, roofing and facing materials, plumbing equipment, etc.).

For the jewelry industry, alloys with gold are relevant, which increase mechanical strength and abrasion resistance.

Experts predict large-scale use of metal as antibacterial surfaces in medical institutions (handrails, doors, handles, handrails, etc.).

Interesting! The famous Statue of Liberty is made of copper. It took about 80 tons of material for its construction. And in Nepal, this metal is considered sacred.

Statue of Liberty

Groups of copper ores

All copper ores are usually divided into nine industrial-geological types, which, in turn, are divided into six groups according to their origin:

Stratiform group

This group includes copper shales and sandstones. These materials are represented by large deposits. Their character traits: simple reservoir shape, uniform distribution of useful components, flat surface occurrence, allowing the use of open-pit mining methods.

pyrite group

This includes native copper, vein and copper-pyrite compounds. The native metal is most commonly found in the oxidation zones of copper sulfide mines along with other oxidized minerals.

Copper-pyrite metals differ in shapes and sizes. The main mineral in the ore is pyrite, chalcopyrite and sphalerite are also present.

Veined ores are characterized by a veinlet structure with inclusions. Such ores, as a rule, occur in contact with porphyries.

Porphyry copper (hydrothermal)

These deposits, together with copper and molybdenum, contain gold, silver, selenium and other useful elements, the presence of which is much higher than the norm.

Copper Nickel

The deposits are presented in reservoir, lenticular, irregular and vein form. The metal has an interspersed massive texture with cobalt, platinoids, gold, etc.

Skarn ore

Skarn ores are local deposits in limestones and calc-terrigenous rocks. They are characterized by small size and complex morphology. The copper concentration is high, but uneven - up to 3%.

Carbonate

This group includes iron-copper and carbonatite ore. This type of copper has been discovered so far the only deposit in South Africa. This complex mine belongs to the alkaline rock massif.

What ore is copper obtained from?

Interesting! Copper is very rarely found in nature in the form of nuggets. To date, the largest such find is considered to be a nugget found in North America in the United States weighing 420 tons.

There are almost 250 types of copper, but only 20 of them are used in industry. The most common of them:

Khalkozin

Compound of minerals containing sulfur (20%) and copper (80%). It is called "copper sheen" because of its characteristic metallic sheen. The ore has a dense or granular structure of black or gray tint.

Chalcopyrite

The metal is of hydrothermal origin, found in skarns and greisens. Most often it is included in the composition of polymetallic ore together with galena and sphalerite.

bornite

A naturally occurring mineral of the sulfide class, one of the main elements of copper ores. It has a characteristic bluish-purple tint. Contains copper (63.33%), iron (11.12%), sulfur (25.55%) and silver impurities. It occurs in the form of dense fine-grained masses.

Methods for extracting copper ore

Depending on the depth of the mine, open and indoor ways metal mining.

In closed (underground) development, mines are built with a length of several kilometers. The mines are equipped with elevators to move workers and equipment, as well as to transport the mineral to the surface.

Under the ground, the rock is subject to crushing with special drilling equipment with spikes. Then, with the help of buckets, the ore is taken and loaded.

The open method is relevant when the deposits are at a depth of up to 400-500 meters. First, the upper layer of waste rock is removed, after which the copper ore is removed. To make it easier to get hard rocks, it is first destroyed by explosive devices.

Open pit mining of copper ore

There are two main methods of copper production:

  • pyrometallurgical;
  • hydrometallurgical.

The first method involves fire refining of the metal and allows you to process any raw material with the extraction of all useful elements. Using this technology, it is possible to obtain copper even from poor rock, in which the metal content is below 0.5%. The second method is used, as a rule, only for the processing of oxidized or native ore with poor copper content.

Mining of copper ores in the world

Copper mines are not concentrated in certain geographical areas, but found in different countries. In America, in the states of Nevada and Arizona, chalcosine deposits are being developed. Copper oxide deposits, cuprite, are common in Cuba. Copper chloride is mined in Peru.

There are almost no sources of enriched ores left in the world, copper has been mined for several hundred years, so all the rich mines have long been developed. In industry, low-grade minerals (up to 0.5% copper) have to be used.

Interesting! In terms of world production, copper is in third place after iron and aluminum.

Leading countries in terms of reserves and production of copper ore

The list of countries rich in copper ores includes: Chile, America, China, Kazakhstan, Poland, Indonesia, Zambia. The share of the Russian Federation in the world ore production is 9% (this is the third place after Chile and the USA). In terms of mineral reserves, Chile is the leader, in which 33% of the world's copper is located.

The largest mines are:

  • Chuquicamata mine (Chile). Developments have been going on for more than 100 years, during this period 26 million tons of metal have been developed;

  • Escondida mine (Chile). Mining has been carried out since 1990;

  • Grasberg mine (Indonesia).

Recently, large mines have been discovered in Peru (Antamina), Brazil (Salobu), Kazakhstan (Nurkazgan).

Experts say that the volume of economically viable copper is more than 400 million tons. Worldwide.

Extraction of copper ore in Russia

The structure of the raw material base of copper in Russia is significantly different from the world market. The main share in it falls on sulfide copper-nickel (40%) and pyrite (19%) mines. While in other countries porphyry copper deposits and cuprous sandstones predominate.

Deposits of copper ores in Russia

When answering the question of where copper ores are mined in Russia, the Taimyr Autonomous Okrug should be singled out first. More than 60% of all copper ore deposits in Russia are concentrated in the Oktyabrsky, Tapakhninsky and Norilsk deposits. About one third of the mineral is mined in the Ural copper ore region.

A large Udokan mine has been discovered in the Chita region, which has not yet been developed due to underdeveloped transport infrastructure. According to expert data, the exploited fields in the Russian Federation will last no more than 30 years.

In the bowels of the earth there are quite a large number of various minerals that can be used to produce various materials. Copper ore is quite widespread - it is used for processing and obtaining various substances that are applicable in industry. It should be borne in mind that in such an ore, which contains copper, other minerals may also be present. It is recommended to use earthen rock, which includes at least 0.5-1% of the metal.

Classification

Mining is easy huge amount variety of copper ores. The classification is based on their origin. The following groups of copper ores are distinguished:

  1. Pyrite has become quite widespread. The rock is represented by a combination of iron and copper, has a large number of various inclusions and veins of other impurities.
  2. Stratiform is represented by a combination of copper shales and sandstones. This kind of breed has also become widespread, as it is represented large deposit. The main characteristics can be called a simple reservoir form, as well as a uniform distribution of all useful components. Due to this, copper rock of this type is most in demand, as it allows you to ensure productivity at the same level.
  3. Copper-nickel. This ore is characterized by massive interspersed textures of cobalt and gold, as well as platinoids. The deposits are in vein and reservoir form.
  4. Porphyry copper or hydrothermal. Copper ore deposits of this kind contain a large concentration of silver and gold, selenium and other chemical substances. In addition, all useful substances are in a higher concentration, due to which the breed is in demand. It is extremely rare.
  5. Carbonate. This group includes iron-copper and carbonatite ore. It should be borne in mind that this breed was found only in South Africa. The developed mine belongs to massive alkaline rocks.
  6. Skarnova - a group that is characterized by a local location in a variety of rocks. Characteristic properties can be called small size and complex morphology. It should be borne in mind that in this case, the ore containing copper has a high concentration. However, the metal is unevenly distributed. Mined rocks have a copper concentration of about three percent.

Copper is practically not found, for example, like gold, in the form of massive nuggets. The largest similar education can be called a deposit in North America, the mass of which is 420 tons. With 250 types of copper, only 20 of them are widely used in pure form, others are used only as alloying elements.

Deposits of copper ores

Copper is considered the most common metal used in a wide variety of industries. Deposits of copper ore are found in almost all countries. An example is the discovery of a field in Arizona and Nevada. Copper ore is also mined in Cuba, where oxide deposits are common. Chloride formations are mined in Peru.

The use of the extracted copper mixture is associated with the production of various metals. There are two main copper production technologies:

  1. hydrometallurgical;
  2. pyrometallurgical.

The second method involves fire refining of the metal. Due to this, the ore can be processed in almost any volume. In addition, the effect of fire makes it possible to isolate almost all useful substances from the rock. Pyrometallurgical technology is used to isolate copper from rock that has a low degree of metal enrichment. The hydrometallurgical method is used exclusively for processing oxidized and native rocks, which also have a low concentration of copper.

In conclusion, we note that today copper is included in almost all alloys. Its addition as an alloying element allows you to change the basic performance.

The most common copper ore on our planet is bornite. But besides it, copper is also mined from other ores, which we will discuss in the framework of this article.

1

By this ore is meant accumulations of minerals in which copper is present in such quantities that are considered suitable for processing it for industrial purposes. The generally accepted indicator of the reasonableness of the development of a deposit is considered to be the situation when copper accumulations in it are at least 0.5–1%.

At the same time, about 90% of the reserves of this metal on earth are found in ores containing not only copper, but also other metals (for example, nickel).

Large-scale copper mining in Russia is carried out in Eastern Siberia, the Urals and the Kola Peninsula. The largest deposits of this metal are present in Chile (according to experts - about 190 million tons). Other countries involved in the development of such ores include the USA, Zambia, Kazakhstan, Poland, Canada, Zaire, Armenia, Congo, Peru, Uzbekistan. In total, the planet's total copper reserves in explored deposits is approximately 680 million tons.

All copper deposits are usually divided into six genetic groups and nine industrial geological types:

  • stratiform group (copper shales and sandstones);
  • pyrite (native copper, vein and copper-pyrite type);
  • hydrothermal (porphyry copper ores);
  • magmatic (copper-nickel ore);
  • skarn;
  • carbonate (iron-copper and carbonatite type).

In our country, the main copper mining is carried out on cuprous shale and sandstone, from copper pyrite, copper-nickel and copper-porphyry ore.

2

In nature, copper is rarely found in its native form. Most often, it "hides" in various compounds. The most famous of them are the following:

3

Other copper minerals are much less common, among which are the following:

4

This metal, whose characteristics (for example, high) led to its wide demand) is obtained from the minerals and ores described by us in three ways - hydrometallurgical, pyrometallurgical and electrolysis. The most common is the pyrometallurgical technology, which uses the mineral chalcopyrite as a feedstock. General scheme The pyrometallurgical process includes several operations. The first of these is the enrichment of copper ore by oxidative roasting or flotation.

The flotation method is based on the difference in wettable waste rock and copper containing particles. Due to this, some mineral elements stick (selectively) to the air bubbles and are transported by them to the surface. Such a simple technology makes it possible to obtain a powdered concentrate, in which the copper content varies from 10 to 35 percent.

Oxidative roasting (do not confuse it with) is more often used when the initial raw material contains sulfur in large quantities. In this case, the ore is heated to a temperature of 700–800 degrees, which leads to the oxidation of sulfides and a decrease in the sulfur content by 2 times. After that, melting is performed for matte (an alloy with iron and copper sulfides obtained in reverberatory or shaft furnaces) at a temperature of 1450 degrees.

Copper matte, which is obtained after all these operations, is blown in horizontal converters without supplying additional fuel ( chemical reactions provide the necessary heat for the process) with side blast for the oxidation of iron and sulfides. The resulting sulfur is converted into SO2, and oxides into slag.

As a result, the so-called black copper comes out of the converter, in which the metal content is approximately 91%. Subsequently, it is subjected to cleaning using fire refining (removal of unnecessary impurities) and an acidified solution of vitriol (copper). Such cleaning is called electrolytic, after which the copper content reaches 99.9%.

With the hydrometallurgical method of producing copper, it is obtained by leaching the metal with sulfuric acid (a very weak solution) and separating copper and other precious metals from the resulting solution. This technique is recommended for working with low-grade ores.