The Science of Copper Extraction: Geology, Metallurgy, and More

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Welcome to our deep dive into the world of copper extraction! This video will unravel the fascinating science and processes behind turning copper ore into valuable refined metal. We'll cover everything from the geology of copper-rich deposits to the intricate metallurgical techniques involved.

Copper extraction involves steps beginning beneath the Earth's surface. We'll explore how mining operations extract copper-rich ore from the ground. Once extracted, the ore goes through several crucial stages, including milling, smelting, and refining, collectively known as metallurgy.

Powdering: Learn how ore is crushed into fine particles in ball mills, a crucial step in the process.

Separating: Discover the technique of froth flotation, where minerals are separated from waste rock using chemical agents and air-stirring, resulting in a copper concentrate.

Roasting: Explore driving off sulfur gases to obtain copper concentrate, an exothermic reaction that requires little to no external fuel.

Smelting: Understand how copper concentrate is melted at high temperatures and undergoes a series of reactions to remove impurities, resulting in blister copper.

Electrolysis: Dive into the final stage, where blister copper is transformed into high-grade copper sheets through electrolysis, with anodes, cathodes, and valuable by-products.

We'll also discuss metal yield, highlighting that while we aim for maximum extraction, complete recovery is challenging due to the nature of chemical reactions. Our exploration will include insights into the energy considerations throughout the extraction process, from mining machinery to electricity usage.

Join us on this scientific journey into the heart of copper extraction and gain a deeper appreciation for the complex processes that bring this versatile metal into our daily lives. Don't forget to like, share, and subscribe for more educational content on mining, metallurgy, and much more. Let's delve into the science of copper extraction together!

Steps in extracting the metal from an ore: In producing most metals, four distinct steps are needed to convert ore in the ground to refined metal ready for industrial use. The total process, these steps, mining, milling, smelting and refining, are summarised, is called metallurgy.

Extraction of copper from its ore
Powdering: Ore is finely crushed in ball mills to a particle size of less than 0.3 mm.

Separating
• The ore concentration is achieved by separating the mineral from the waste rock. The finely crushed ore is mixed with water in a tank.
• A chemical agent is added, and the mixture is air-stirred. The chemical agent attached itself to the copper minerals, which rose to the surface as a froth. The froth is then skimmed off, and the mineral is dried.
• This concentrate contains about 25% copper as Cu2S. FeS is the main impurity.
• Energy requirement: concentrating the ore by the froth flotation process is a relatively low-energy.
• Froth flotation is a process that can separate some minerals from gangue in finely ground ore (usually low-grade ores).
• Bubbles of air are blown through a slurry of finely ground ore in water. The grains of minerals, which have ‘water-loving’ surfaces, become ‘wetted’ by water and sink to the bottom.
• Most minerals are like this, but if a collector (often a xanthate) is added to the water and coats a mineral grain, it can form a ‘water-hating surface around the grain. These grains are pushed to the water's surface around air bubbles.
• With different collectors, different minerals can be selectively separated by froth flotation. Other substances are added to form a stable froth at the water's surface. The mineral grains are then skimmed off the surface, even if air bubbles burst.

Roasting
• This step drives off the sulphur as SO, and SO3 gases. Preheated air provides an oxidising atmosphere for the copper concentrate. The partially oxidised mixture is mainly sulphides and oxides of copper and iron.
• Energy requirement: little or no fuel is needed since the reaction is strongly exothermic (gives out heat). The reaction temperature may reach 1000°C.

Smelting
• The 'calcines' from the roaster are melted at 1400°C in a horizontally placed reverberatory furnace.
• This step is designed to remove iron. Silica (SiO2) is added as a flux, and iron (II) silicate is formed, which floats above the product called copper matte, containing 50-70% copper. The converter is used to separate any remaining iron.
• The ‘blister’ copper is about 98% pure. The blisters are formed by the release of SO2(g) as the solid cool.

0:00 Introduction
0:08 Copper Extraction
1:21 Refinement of Ores
2:24 Copper Mining
7:31 Copper Smelting
11:05 Copper Refinement
14:51 Question 10