How Does Copper Mining Affect The Environment

To meet the growing demand for copper in Australia, mining is necessary but there is still a huge supply of recycled copper, as it plays a vital part in the conservation of the supply of chalcopyrite ore, which reduces energy consumption, decreases waste disposal, and conserves the environment. It is estimated that such recycling supplies 50% of copper used in the Australian copper industry. In 2010, it was reported that 770,000 metric tons of copper were recycled, at an estimated value of nearly six billion Australian dollars. First, the copper has to be reduced to a reusable form through baling. This form differs depending on the use of the copper. When the copper has gone through a process reducing it to a reusable form for industry, the final process is to transport the recycled copper to a smelter where it goes through melting, and is eventually smoothed into flat sheets for new industry

This report presents an evaluation of the Ely copper mines system found in Vermont Alaska. This report is associated with the Ely Copper Mine Superfund site in Vershire, Orange County, The Ely Copper Mine Super¬fund site was placed on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) National Priorities List in 2001. Results of detailed mine-waste investigations show that the mine, which operated intermittently from the early 1800s until 1905,

The Copper Cycle is a popular experiment used to determine if an element, in this instance, copper, reverts to its elemental form after a chain of reactions. This experiment is very dangerous because of the reactions between the strong acids and bases. In this experiment I performed a series of reactions starting with copper metal and nitric acid to form copper (II) nitrate. Then I reacted copper and several other solutions such as, sodium hydroxide, sulfuric acid, ammonium hydroxide, and hydrochloric acid to form precipitates. In conclusion my percent recovery

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The purpose of the experiment is to cycle solid copper through a series of five reactions. At different stages of the cycle, copper was present in different forms. First reaction involves reaction between the copper and nitric acid, and copper changed from elemental state to an aqueous. The second reaction converted the aqueous Cu2+ into the solid copper (2) hydroxide. In the third reaction Cu(OH)2 decomposed into copper 2 oxide and water when heated. When solid CuO reacted with sulfuric acid, the copper returned to solution as an ion (Cu2+). The cycle of reactions was completed with the reaction where elemental copper was regenerated by Zn and Cu

Copper is a metal that has been used by humans essentially since the beginning of existence as it is said to be only the second metal used by man after gold. Therefore, copper production has been an important part of life for thousands or years and still is today. The copper cycle is an important because it provides a basis for how copper can be recovered from various compounds that it exists in during its so-called “life-cycle” . The life cycle of copper conserves this now scarce metal by allowing the recovery of the pure substance at any point through experimental means. While copper is much more, scare in earths natural environment today it is still an incredibly important product. Copper is used in manufacturing wiring for electricity as

Purpose: The purpose of this experiment was to observe the many physical and chemical properties of copper as it undergoes a series of chemical reactions. Throughout this process, one would also need to acknowledge that even though the law of conservation of matter/mass suggests that one should expect to recover the same amount of copper as one started with, inevitable sources of error alter the results and produce different outcomes. The possible sources of error that led to a gain or loss in copper are demonstrated in the calculation of percent yield (percent yield= (actual yield/theoretical yield) x 100.

The name copper and the symbol Cu derive from the Latin word “Cuprum”, which by definition means the island of Cyprus. Copper is the 29th element and is located amongst the transition metals in the periodic table. Copper is one of the first elements both known and to be utilized by humans. It is believed that the reason for its early discovery was due to the element being able to naturally occur in its relatively pure form. Archaeological evidence has suggested that it was in fact the Mesopotamians somewhere between 5000 and 6000 years ago, which were able to fully utilize both extracting and making use of the element itself. A copper pendant was found in the Middle East and is dated 8700BC. There are many ways that copper can be used, as

To extract copper from the ores, which is a group of minerals, from which a valuable material can be pulled out for economic benefits, workers in the Chuquicamata mine mainly use two metallurgy processes: Smelting and Electrolysis. First and foremost, the ores are heated with carbon as the matter of fact that copper is a reactive element. For the smelting process, smelters use blast furnaces in the mine. Copper matte, which is a mixture of copper, iron and sulfur that is enriched in copper, is the product of this process. Subsequently, the impure copper is purified by electrolysis in which the cathode is pure copper, the anode is impure copper, and the electrolyte is a copper sulfate solution. To be more specific, pure copper, which is purified

4. Describe the procedure for extracting copper from one of its ores. Include relevant chemical reactions, equations and energy considerations involved. Extraction of copper from chalcopyrite (CuFe2) occurs using processes such as: mining & crushing, froth flotation, roasting & smelting and electrolytic refining. Mining the ore

During lab, we put the metal copper under different circumstances so that we could gain a better understanding as to what goes on in the copper cycle. Throughout each stage of the copper cycle, we deduced what type of chemical reaction took place based on observation, made observations about the state of the metal and what type of environment it was subjected to, and determined what the net ionic equation was for each stage. Following the experiment, we calculated what the percent yield was and compared the changes in mass from the initial stage to the final stage.

Copper is usually extracted from sulphide ores such as Chalcopyrite. Since these ores contain low amounts of copper, they have to be concentrated through froth flotation before refining. The sulphate ore is first mined underground, and then bought to the surface to be crushed. Pine oil is then applied to the crushed copper ores, binding copper compounds together, but not the rocky material remaining. The ore is then put in a tub of water through the feed consisting of a foaming agent. Air is then released bit by bit in the agitator, causing bubbles to form. The water repellent copper compounds are picked up with the bubbles, making them float, letting the excess froth flow over the sides, creating concentrated copper in the concentrate launder.

The effect of copper exposure upon mine workers has been studied to a great extent. The mechanisms by which the body incorporates copper are relatively well understood. There are two genetic disorders, Wilson’s Disease (WD) and Menkes Disease (MD) that result from mutations in enzymes that are involved in the transport of copper into cells of the body (Figure 3, Ref’s

Strip mining is terrible for the earth.” In the US, from 1930 to 2000, coal mining altered about 2.4 million hectares (5.9 million acres) of natural landscape, most originally forest.”

Another threat to the environment is acid mine drainage (also known as acid rock drainage). Acid mine drainage is "the outflow of acidic water from a mining site." This acid is formed by the oxidation of iron sulfide. The oxidation occurs when iron sulfide is exposed to the air or to dissolved oxygen in the water, which causes the iron to rust and the sulfur reacts with the water to forum sulfuric acid (Coil, D., McKittrick, E., and Higman, B., 2010). Figure 2 illustrates the sulfuric acid that is formed.