Copper Development Centre • South East Asia

Copper is man's oldest metal, dating back more than 10,000 years. A copper pendant discovered in what is now northern Iraq goes back to about 8700 B.C.

Some things never change! Ten thousand years ago, cave dwellers used copper axes as weapons and tools for survival. Today, high tech surgeons save lives and precious blood by using copper-clad scalpels. The copper conducts an electric current that heats the scalpel to make it self-cauterizing.

Copper is man's oldest metal, dating back more than 10,000 years. A copper pendant discovered in what is now northern Iraq goes back to about 8700 B.C.

Some things never change! Ten thousand years ago, cave dwellers used copper axes as weapons and tools for survival. Today, high tech surgeons save lives and precious blood by using copper-clad scalpels. The copper conducts an electric current that heats the scalpel to make it self-cauterizing.

The first copper deposit worked extensively in America (by non-native Americans) is located in Granby, Connecticut. It was operated from 1705 until 1770.

Archeologists have recovered a portion of a water plumbing system from the Pyramid of Cheops in Egypt. The copper tubing used was found in serviceable condition after more than 5,000 years.

The H.M.S. Beagle, used by Charles Darwin for his historic voyages around the world, was built in 1825 with copper skins below the water line. The copper sheathing extended hull life and protected against barnacles and other kinds of biofouling. Today most seagoing vessels use a copper-containing paint for hull protection.

One of the famous Dead Sea Scrolls found in Israel is made of copper instead of more fragile animal skins. The scroll contains no biblical passages or religious writings - only clues to a still undiscovered treasure.

A museum at the University of Pennsylvania displays a copper frying pan that has been dated to be more than 50 centuries old.

Copper cookware is the most highly regarded by chefs around the world. Its noted advantages - high heat transfer (the highest of any material used in cooking) plus uniform heating (no hot spots). Restaurateurs, hoteliers and interior decorators look to copper and brass as naturally inviting metals that make a statement of quality, comfort and beauty.

Pure copper's melting point is 1,981ºF (1,083ºC).

Brasses and Bronzes are probably the most well-known families of copper-base alloys. Brasses are mainly copper and zinc. Bronzes are mainly copper along with alloying elements such as tin, aluminum, silicon or beryllium.

The Statue of Liberty contains 179,000 pounds of copper. It came from the Visnes copper mines on Karmoy Island near Stavanger, Norway, and was fabricated by French artisans.

Copper is essential in the human diet. It helps iron-rich foods make red hemoglobin in the blood. In fact, it is essential for the normal healthy growth and reproduction of all higher plants and animals.

Copper is also involved in the formation of collagen (the fibrous protein in bone, cartilage, tendons, and other connective tissue) and protective coverings for nerves.

A deficiency in copper is one factor leading to an increased risk of developing high cholesterol levels and coronary heart disease in humans. Copper deficiencies are also associated with premature births, chronic diarrhea and stomach diseases.

Fortunately, copper is present in a wide variety of vegetables, fruits, grains, dried beans, nuts, meats, seafood and chocolate, as well as drinking water.

Although excessive ingestion of copper can cause nausea and other adverse effects, the World Health Organization (WHO) has determined there is no major concern for setting an upper threshold, because toxic risk levels rarely exist.

The WHO board of environmental scientists said any risk should be assessed on the bioavailability of copper at a specific site; i.e., evaluation should not be based on total copper content, but rather on the volume of soluble copper which can actually be absorbed by humans or wildlife.

We're in no danger of running out of copper. Known worldwide resources of this important and valuable metal are estimated at nearly 5.8 trillion pounds of which only about 0.7 trillion (12%) have been mined throughout history.

Nearly all of that 0.7 trillion (or 700 billion) pounds is still in circulation because copper's recycling rate is higher than that of any other engineering metal.

Nearly as much copper is recovered from recycled material as is derived from newly mined ore. Excluding wire production, most of which uses newly refined copper, more than three-fourths of the amount used by copper and brass mills, ingot makers, foundries, powder plants and other industries comes from recycled scrap.

Almost half of all recycled copper scrap is old post-consumer scrap, such as discarded electric cable, junked automobile radiators and air conditioners, or even ancient Egyptian plumbing. (Yes, it's been around that long.)

The remainder is new scrap, such as chips and turnings from screw machine production.

Copper is used in gardening sprays and powders to get rid of destructive mildew.

Copper is biostatic. That means bacteria will not grow on its surface. Copper and copper alloy doorknobs protect against the transfer of disease in hospitals.

Use of copper tube works against outbreaks of Legionnaire's Disease, where bacteria grow in and spread from the tubing and other materials in air-conditioning systems not made of copper. Copper surfaces are inhospitable to the growth of legionella and other bacteria.