Sun, Nov 23, 2008
ez access
Subscriber services | Subscribe now
Custom clipper icon
Alvin Fulton maneuvers a machine carrying copper cathodes at the Johnson Camp Mine in Cochise County east of Benson.
Photos by greg bryan / Arizona Daily Star
slide show
(slide show) Click here for more images
Man's first metal
Copper was first used by man 10,000 years ago. A copper pendant discovered in what is now northern Iraq has been dated to about 8700 B.C. For nearly five millennia, copper was the only metal known to man.
Early copper artifacts, first decorative, then utilitarian, were undoubtedly hammered out from "native copper," pure copper found in conjunction with copper-bearing ores in a few places around the world. By 5000 B.C., the dawn of metallurgy arrived, as evidence exists of the smelting of simple copper-oxide ores such as malachite and azurite.
Not until about 4000 B.C. did gold appear on the scene as man's second metal.
Source: Copper Development Association Inc.
Did you know
• There are 44 to 55 pounds of copper in the average car. New hybrid plug-in cars will require an additional 26 pounds of copper for the battery.
• 40 percent of all copper goes to construct buildings — 2/3 of that to homes.
• The average 2,100-square-foot house uses 439 pounds of copper.
• The average dishwasher has five pounds of copper in it.
• Recycled copper meets 7 percent of U.S. copper demand.
• The U.S. imports 37 percent of all the copper needed to meet domestic demand.
Source: National Mining Association

Business

Does it matter where our copper comes from?

There is no doubt we can't live without this metal — the question is where we choose to dig it from the Earth
By Gabriela Rico
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 08.17.2008
We all want it, use it and need it, but does it matter where we get it?
Copper — the first metal used by man 10,000 years ago — is the subject of much angst as we ponder which pieces of Earth to sacrifice for its extraction.
In particular, there are concerns about a proposed open-pit mine at Rosemont Ranch, 30 miles southeast of Tucson, and an underground mine on U.S. Forest Service land, known as the Oak Flat parcel, near Superior.
Arizona is one of the richest sources of copper in the world, and mining companies looking to expand existing operations or start new ones say the supply of domestically produced copper is crucial because it keeps costs low and because the rate of U.S. consumption is great.
But some conservationists balk, given that many of the mining companies eyeing projects in the state are foreign-owned.
"That doesn't even pass the laugh test," said Roger Featherstone, Southwest circuit rider for Earthworks, a non-profit organization that monitors the mining industry. "They have no allegiance to the United States."
Industry officials and geologists say that's a parochial attitude in a global economy.
"That's the nature of a lot of things these days," said geologist Mark Barton, a University of Arizona professor. "Even though foreign companies own some of these (mines), most are international, and many have major American ownership even if . . . headquartered elsewhere."
And because copper is unique to certain regions, and a necessary commodity, not to unearth it is irresponsible, some believe.
"Copper is a fundamental building block of our society," said Carol Raulston, senior vice president of communications for the National Mining Association in Washington.
From the houses we live in to the cars we drive and computers we work on, U.S. consumers have a large appetite for the metal and import 37 percent of the copper needed to meet domestic demand, she said.
Raulston said it doesn't make sense to halt exploration in the U.S. and depend on other countries, such as mega-producers Chile and Peru, for copper.
"There are not many substitutes for copper, and our needs are projected to continue growing," she said. "Should we not also meet some of our own needs?"
According to the New York-based Copper Development Association, the United States is the world's second-largest producer of copper. The country's largest copper mine is found in Utah, and other major mines are in Arizona, Michigan, New Mexico and Montana.
In South America, Chile and Peru are both major producers, Chile the world's largest. Copper deposits are also found in Canada, the Ural Mountains of Russia and parts of Africa.
Featherstone said Earthworks is not advocating for the U.S. to stop producing copper and rely on a foreign supply.
"It's untrue that the conservationist community would rather see our production done overseas," he said. "We want the industry to not just do the bare minimum (environmentally) but to really try to be good neighbors."
The ramped-up production at the existing mines should satisfy our copper needs, he said, and the federal government should do more to encourage recycling of copper.
Featherstone stops short of saying the industry shouldn't be allowed to grow.
"I don't think we'd ever be in a position to say we don't need new mines," he said. "We just need to be really careful when we talk about new ground getting scraped."
Because mines have a life span, Raulston said, prepping new mines now prepares us for the future.
Regardless of who owns a mine in Arizona, having access to the metal is critical in times of international conflict, said Gilles Allard, professor emeritus of geology at the University of Georgia.
"In case of a world war . . . we need very badly a domestic supply," he said. "When World II came, we were not prepared, and we were dependent on importations, but the German submarines started to sink anything coming our way."
After the war, the government instituted the National Stockpile, an inventory of commodities needed for strategic purposes, and copper was one of them.
● Contact reporter Gabriela Rico at 573-4232 or grico@azstarnet.com
Get Arizona Daily Star home delivery and SAVE BIG!
Go Back