Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
An estimated 80% of all copper ever mined is still in use today. [15] In volume, copper is the third most recycled metal after iron and aluminium. [16] As of 2023, recycled copper supplies about one-third of global demand. [17] The process of recycling copper is roughly the same as is used to extract copper but requires fewer steps.
Side-by-side map of smelter site in 1898 and 1907; more than a dozen buildings were built the first year The Quincy Smelter circa 1906. The Quincy Mining Company incorporated in 1848. [2] Like other mines in the area, Quincy had its own stamp mills, but did not produce enough copper to justify the investment of operating its own smelter.
The required temperature varies both in absolute terms and in terms of the melting point of the base metal. Examples: Iron oxide becomes metallic iron at roughly 1250 °C (2282 °F or 1523 K), almost 300 degrees below iron's melting point of 1538 °C (2800 °F or 1811 K). [5]
The mining water contains copper salts in the form of copper sulfate CuSO 4. The iron then reacts with the copper, displacing it from the sulfate ions, causing the copper to precipitate onto the iron sheets, forming a "wet" powder. Finally, the precipitated copper is collected and refined further through the traditional smelting process.
The copper ions are liberated from the residue with sulfuric acid. The barred (denuded) sulfuric acid recycled back on to the heaps. The organic ligands are recovered and recycled as well. Alternatively, the copper can be precipitated out of the pregnant solution by contacting it with scrap iron; a process called cementation. Cement copper is ...
The purest copper is obtained by an electrolytic process, undertaken using a slab of impure copper as the anode and a thin sheet of pure copper as the cathode. The electrolyte is an acidic solution of copper (II) sulfate. By passing electricity through the cell, copper is dissolved from the anode and deposited on the cathode. However ...
Porphyry copper deposits represent an important resource and the dominant source of copper that is mined today to satisfy global demand. [6] Via compilation of geological data, it has been found that the majority of porphyry deposits are Phanerozoic in age and were emplaced at depths of approximately 1 to 6 kilometres with vertical thicknesses on average of 2 kilometres. [6]
The process used at the Lünen smelter involves charging the furnace with copper residues and scrap containing between 1 and 80% copper and then melting it in a reducing environment. This produces a "black copper phase" and a low-copper silica slag. Initially the black copper was converted to blister copper in the ISASMELT furnace. [57]