Is Copper Metal?

What is Copper?

Copper is a ductile and malleable metal with excellent electrical and thermal conductivity. Malleable and ductile describe metal's physical properties.

A metal that's malleable can be hammered, pressed and reshaped without cracking or breaking. It can also be rolled into thin sheets.

Ductile metals can be drawn or stretched into wire without breaking or losing strength. The wire is pliable, so can be bent or twisted without damage.

Copper is a good conductor of electricity and sound, so it's often used to construct musical instruments, such as gongs and bells.  

Although often described as a mineral, copper is a chemical element. On the periodic table, it's represented by the symbol Cu.

Copper is found in more than one hundred sixty minerals. Malachite is the earliest ore of copper. An ore is a rock that contains sufficient quantities of a metal to make it worth extracting.

Copper can be extracted from an ore with relative ease.

The vast amount of copper mined today comes from ores that contain around 2% of this sought-after metal. Chalcopyrite is the most common ore of copper.

Most of the world's copper comes from Chile, the Democratic Republic of Congo, China, the U.S.A., Russia, Australia and Mexico.

Copper was the first metal used. Beads found in Iraq date back more than 10,000 years. Over time, it was discovered copper could be worked which made it more suitable than stone for tools and weapons.
The Bronze Age began with the development of bronze around 3000 BC. Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin.

An alloy is a mixture of two or more chemical elements, at least one of which is a metal. Alloys are produced because pure metal is often too soft to be suitable for its purpose.

The combination of copper and tin produced a metal far stronger than pure copper. Copper was still used extensively, but the discovery of bronze marked a significant technological advancement due to its improved strength and durability.

In ancient Egypt, copper was used for tools, cookware, mirrors, razors, and even makeup. Blue and green cosmetics were produced by grounding malachite or azurite and mixing them with oil or fat to produce a fine paste.

During the Industrial Revolution, copper became even more important because of its ability to conduct electricity.

Today, copper is still widely used for electrical wiring, plumbing, roofing and construction. Although copper tarnishes, it's highly resistant to corrosion. 

Throughout history, copper has been used to produce cutlery, cookware, jewellery, decorative objects, and coins.

Copper is used for cookware because it conducts and distributes heat exceptionally well. Even distribution is important because it prevents hotspots that can burn food.

Copper also has antimicrobial properties. An antimicrobial is a substance that kills microorganisms, such as bacteria or mould, stopping them from growing and causing disease.

Tests have shown that a solid copper surface can kill 99.9% of microorganisms within two hours of contact.

Is Copper Renewable?

Copper is a renewable metal that can be recycled repeatedly without any loss of performance. It also helps reduce CO₂ emissions in the environment and lowers the amount of energy needed to produce electricity.

The term 'renewable' describes a metal that can be produced or obtained through sustainable methods. For it to be renewable, it must be able to be replenished over time.

Renewable metals are abundant in Earth's crust but must be able to be extracted without causing significant environmental damage or depletion of natural resources.

Renewable metals can be recycled or recovered from waste materials. Copper is widely recycled and recovered from waste products such as electronics or scrap metals.

Is Copper Valuable?

The price of copper reached a record high in March 2022 but then dropped significantly due to fears of a global recession.

With China being the world's largest consumer of copper, there were fears that lockdowns because of Covid-19 would cause the economy to slow down. During this time, manufacturing plants closed, and construction was scaled back.

With the invasion of Ukraine, the price of copper began to rise. This was because traders began stockpiling metals used on an industrial scale.
This caused a problem because existing stockpiles of copper were already low. This is generally because of the slowdown in mining during the last decade.

As countries move towards cleaner energy, more copper is needed. Copper is used for wiring in electric cars and for solar panels. The problem was that as oil and gas prices increased, so did the cost of manufacturing copper.

Due to worldwide lockdowns during the pandemic, the demand for gadgets and electronics rose dramatically. As demand increased, so did the need for copper.

This has caused a problem because although demand has increased, the rate of production from the mines has not kept up. This is causing some concern that a shortage of this metal may not be far off.

When it comes to buying copper as an investment, although it may offer high returns, it's also a highly volatile commodity. At the beginning of 2023, the market outlook was mixed. Some forecasts suggested the price could rise, while others said it would fall.

Article Photos

Pop-up photos: Malachite and chalcopyrite - From our collection. The copper is courtesy of Stan Celestian.