Uses Copper is a metal that occurs naturally throughout the environment, in rocks, soil, water, and air. Copper is an essential element in plants and animals (including humans), which means it is necessary for us to live. Therefore, plants and animals must absorb some copper from eating, drinking, and breathing.

The use of copper dates back to prehistoric times. The metal, its compounds, and alloys have numerous applications in every sphere of life–making it one of the most important metals. Practically all coinages in the world are made out of copper or its alloys. Its alloys, bronze and brass, date from ancient times. More modern alloys such as monel, gun metals, and berylliumcopper also have wide applications. The metal is an excellent conductor of electricity and heat and is used in electric wiring, switches and electrodes. Other applications are in plumbing, piping, roofing, cooking utensils, construction materials, and electroplated protective coatings. Its compounds, namely the oxides, sulfates, and chlorides, have numerous of commercial applications.

Copper is distributed widely in nature as sulfides, oxides, arsenides, arsenosulfides, and carbonates. It occurs in the minerals cuprite, chalcopyrite, azurite, chalcocite, malachite and bornite. Most copper minerals are sulfides or oxides. Native copper contains the metal in uncombined form.The principal copper minerals with their chemical compositions and percentage of copper are listed below:

Uses Copper is distributed widely in nature; it is the twenty-sixth most abundant element in the earth’s crust and is an essential element for many life forms. Copper is an abundant reddish, odorless metal that takes on a greenish-blue patina when exposed to the elements. It was the first metal worked by humans, and copper salts were among the first materials regularly used for therapeutic and cosmetic purposes.

Most animals require copper for certain biological processes. A deficiency of copper, as well as an excess, can have adverse health effects. The daily intake of copper in the United States ranges from 2 to 5 mg, almost all of which is excreted in the feces. Shellfish, seeds, nuts, and grains are rich sources of dietary copper. Minute amounts of cupric ion are absorbed and stored, mainly in the liver, blood, and brain. Copper is an essential cofactor in several enzyme systems (Shaligram and Campbell, 2012). Cuproenzymes catalyze important biochemical reactions, including iron absorption and hemebiosynthesis (Colotti et al., 2013).Copper deficiency may lead to anemia and neutropenia, and eventually to bone lesions resembling scurvy and to pathological fractures without hemorrhage (Kumar et al., 2005; Halfdanarson et al., 2008). Copper is also found in some intrauterine devices for the prevention of pregnancy (IPCS, 1998; Szymanski et al., 2012).

Uses Copper, being easy to mine and refine, has become a very versatile metal over the course ofcivilization. Early in human history, it was discovered that soft copper could be made harderand stronger when alloyed with other metals. Copper was and still is important to technologyand the development of civilizations. Over the past several thousand years, brass has foundmultiple uses, such as in coins, cooking utensils, and many types of instruments and hardwarethat are resistant to corrosion. Even today, brass is used to make musical instruments andbathroom, kitchen, and marine hardware. The U.S. one-cent penny was originally made ofcopper, but today the penny is made of zinc with a coating of copper. Copper is also an alloymetal used as a substitute for some of the silver in several other U.S. coins.Some common uses are in electrical wiring and components of electronic equipment,roofing, and pipes and plumbing and in the manufacturing of alloys such as brass, bronze,Monel metal, electroplating, jewelry, cooking utensils, insecticides, marine paints, cosmetics,and wood preservatives.Copper is second only to silver as an excellent conductor of electricity. This factor and itsavailability made it essential for the expansion of modern technologies. It was, and still is, adesired metal for wires to carry electricity, but the rapid expansion of modern communicationswould require more copper than could be made economically available. The solution has beento use optical fiberglass transmission cables as a substitute for copper wire. In addition, andeven more important, is the recent explosive growth of wireless transmission as a substitute forcopper wire in the communication industries.