It is a good conductor of electricity and heat - It is easily bent, yet hard enough to make water pipes and tanks - It does not react with water , so it lasts for a long time
How can copper be extracted from copper-rich ores?
By heating the ores with carbon in a furnace - this process is known as smelting
Once extracted , copper can be purified by electrolysis
Apart from smelting, what other ways can copper be obtained?
From solutions of copper salts by electrolysis - Or by displacement using scrapiron
During electrolysis , the positive copper ions move towards the negative electrode and form pure copper
Copper can be extracted from low-grade ores , or contaminated land by biological methods
Phytomining is a method that uses plants to absorb copper - As the plants grow they absorb and store copper - The plants are then burned and the ash produced contains copper in relatively high quantities
Bioleaching uses bacteria to extract metals from low-grade ores - A solution containing bacteria is mixed with a low-grade ore - The bacteria convert the copper into a solution , known as leachatesolution , from which copper can easily be extracted
Phytomining and bioleaching are more environmentally friendly than traditional mining methods - which involve digging up and moving large quantities of rock and having to dispose of large amounts of waste materials
