Copper has been mined for over 5000 years. The element of copper was known to ancient civilisations. The first use of copper was weaponry. .
Copper is reddish in colour and takes on a bright sheen. It is also malleable and ductile, which means it is easily manipulated into another shape. It is usually in the form of wiring. .
All American coins are now copper alloys, and gunmetals also contain copper. .
Copper is perfectly safe to touch and smell although excess copper is toxic. .
Australia is the western world's fifth largest copper producer.
Where copper comes from: .
The largest amounts of copper are found in the earth's crust as a copper deposit.
The majority of copper comes from seven kinds of ores. Copper ores usually contain less then 4 % copper. Some ores may yield as less as 0.2 % copper. The main copper ores are sulphides, which include bornite, chalcocite and chalcopyrite. .
Oxidized ores like azurite, cuprite and malachite, also yield valuable amounts of copper. .
Almost pure copper called "native copper" rarely occurs in nature.
Where copper is mined: .
The biggest mines in Australia are Olympic Dam and Mt Isa Mines. There is a lot of copper mineral around Australia but there are not a lot of mines mining copper alone.
Australia is the fifth largest copper producer in the western world. Some of the other major copper producing areas in NSW are Cobar, Parkes and Orange.
Olympic Dam Mine is the world's eighth largest copper ore body and is currently producing 1.4% of the world's refined copper output. .
Mt Isa is one of the world's largest underground mines and one of the few places in the world where copper, silver, lead and zinc are found and mined in the same area.
Olympic Dam is accessible through vertical shafts in the ore body. More than 100km of underground tunnelling development has already taken place. .
How copper is mined:.
The primary method of extraction is a form of level open stoping. .
Blocks of mineralised ore are systematically blasted, and the now crushed ore is hoisted in a skip up to one of many shafts, to a surface stockpile.
