copper

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Follow copper from green rock in open-pit mines to smelting, conversion, and refining into anode plates

Kitwe: open-pit copper mine

Explore an interactive periodic table of the elements

copper cookware

A sample of copper on smithsonite from the Tsumeb Mine, Tsumeb, Namib.

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Germans from East and West stand on the Berlin Wall in front of the Brandenburg Gate in the November 10, 1989, photo, one day after the wall opened.

Timeline of the 1980s

US Marines firing at Fallujah, Iraq, during the Second Battle of Fallujah in November 2004. Operation Iraqi Freedom, Iraq War.

Timeline of the 2000s

Thumbnail for flags that look alike quiz Russia, Slovenia, Iceland, Norway

Flags That Look Alike

The Battle of New Orleans, by E. Percy Moran, c. 1910. Andrew Jackson, War of 1812.

26 Decade-Defining Events in U.S. History

Aurochs. Bos primigenius. Skeleton. Extinct animal. Skeleton of an Aurochs, an extinct wild ox.

6 Animals We Ate Into Extinction

President Richard M. Nixon smiles and gives the victory sign as he boards the White House helicopter after his resignation on August 9, 1974 in Washington, D.C.

Timeline of the 1970s

Ethel Rosenberg arrested in August 1950. Photograph dated Aug. 8, 1950. American civilians executed for espionage. Spies, communists, Julius Rosenberg

Spies Like Us: 10 Famous Names in the Espionage Game

copper: Facts & Related Content

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News •

Geologists discover the largest copper, gold, and silver deposit in the last three decades • May 13, 2025, 11:10 PM ET (Earth.com)

Copper Climbs to Two-Week High as Weak Dollar Boosts Metals • Apr. 23, 2025, 2:08 AM ET (Bloomberg.com)

Facts

Also Known As	Cu • cuprum

Photos and Videos

Kitwe: open-pit copper mine

copper cookware

A sample of copper on smithsonite from the Tsumeb Mine, Tsumeb, Namib.

Gigantic trucks hauling 330 metric tons of ore at the Chuquicamata copper mine, Calama, Chile.

voltammetric wave of copper(II)

Follow copper from green rock in open-pit mines to smelting, conversion, and refining into anode plates

Take a look at researchers studying Mississippians copper work from the Cahokian mounds in southwestern Illinois

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Topics

What Is the Statue of Liberty Made Of?copper processing CIGS solar cell nickel silver copper work porphyry copper deposit chemical element transition metal hydrogen carbon sodium nitrogen sulfur phosphorus boron iodine fluorine zinc

Dig Deeper: More Articles That Discuss This Topic

Arizona: The copper era

Key People

Marcus Daly

American industrialist

William E. Dodge

American industrialist

James Douglas, oil painting by E.W. Grier, 19th century; in a private collection

James Douglas

American engineer

Sir Chester Beatty

British engineer

Johan Gottlieb Gahn

Swedish mineralogist

Quiz

Concept artwork on the periodic table of elements.

118 Names and Symbols of the Periodic Table Quiz

Periodic Table of the elements concept image (chemistry)

Facts You Should Know: The Periodic Table Quiz