Comments on: How do you mine copper?

By: G_Tea

G_Tea — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 03:00:19 +0000

Most modern copper mining is done in open pits with explosives, giant shovels, and huge trucks to haul the ore to a mill or smelter. The method of extracting copper from ore rock has been improved with modern technology, but the ideas behind it developed directly from past experience. Since every ore is at least a little different from every other ore, the exact process varies with the type of ore. Sometimes the copper ore mineral is different; for example, chalcocite (copper sulfide) is very different from malachite (copper carbonate with water).UNR has a nice write-up on basic open pit and underground mining technologies. With process descriptions. http://www.unr.edu/sb204/geology/modern.html
Kennecott has photos of the mine to metal copper process, which consists of mining, hulling, crushing, grinding, floating, smelting, and electro refining. http://www.kennecott.com/copper_how_produce.html

By: Professor Kitty

Professor Kitty — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 02:00:51 +0000

Copper is usually mined as a sulfide ore (chalcopyrite, chalcosite) and other associated sulfide minerals such as pyrite, pyrrhitite and magnetite. It is usually mined in the same way as anything else. Mostly pit or underground. Pit mining is basically a big hole in the ground where is underground is tunnels through the ore.

By: josh_maurer2002

josh_maurer2002 — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 01:58:58 +0000

You would mine it the same way that you do anywhere. You first have to find an area where there is a high concentration of native copper or copper ores. You extract it from the ground and process it.