U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet 2009–3031

May 2009

29

Cu

63.55

copper

[Ar]4s13d10

USGS Mineral Resources Program

Copper—A Metal for the Ages

As part of a broad mission to 

conduct research and provide 

information on nonfuel mineral 

resources, the U.S. Geological 

Survey (USGS) supports science 

to understand

•	 How and where copper 

resources form and 

concentrate in the Earth’s 

crust

•	 How copper resources 

interact with the environment 

to affect human and 

ecosystem health

•	 How trends in supply of 

and demand for copper 

vary in the domestic and 

international markets

•	 Where future copper 

resources might be found

Why is this important? Read 

on to learn about copper and 

the important role it plays in 

the national economy, national 

security, and the lives of 

Americans every day. 

Printed on recycled paper

Copper was one of the first metals ever extracted and used 

by humans, and it has made vital contributions to sustaining 

and improving society since the dawn of civilization. Copper 

was first used in coins and ornaments starting about 8000 B.C., 

and at about 5500 B.C., copper tools helped civilization emerge 

from the Stone Age. The discovery that copper alloyed with tin 

produces bronze marked the beginning of the Bronze Age at 

about 3000 B.C. 

Copper is easily stretched, molded, and shaped; is resistant 

to corrosion; and conducts heat and electricity efficiently. As a 

result, copper was important to early humans and continues to 

be a material of choice for a variety of domestic, industrial, and 

high-technology applications today. 

Presently, copper is used in building construction, power 

generation and transmission, electronic product manufacturing, 

and the production of industrial machinery and transportation 

vehicles. Copper wiring and plumbing are integral to the 

appliances, heating and cooling systems, and telecommunications links used every day in homes and businesses. Copper 

is an essential component in the motors, wiring, radiators, 

connectors, brakes, and bearings used in cars and trucks. The 

average car contains 1.5 kilometers (0.9 mile) of copper wire, 

and the total amount of copper ranges from 20 kilograms (44 

pounds) in small cars to 45 kilograms (99 pounds) in luxury 

and hybrid vehicles.

As in ancient times, copper remains a component of 

coinage used in many countries, but many new uses have 

been identified. One of copper’s more recent applications 

includes its use in frequently touched surfaces (such as 

brass doorknobs), where copper’s antimicrobial properties 

reduce the transfer of germs and disease. Semiconductor 

manufacturers have also begun using copper for circuitry in 

silicon chips, which enables microprocessors to operate faster 

and use less energy. Copper rotors have also recently been 

found to increase the efficiency of electric motors, which are a 

major consumer of electric power.

The excellent alloying properties of copper have made 

it invaluable when combined with other metals, such as 

zinc (to form brass), tin (to form bronze), or nickel. These 

alloys have desirable characteristics and, depending on their 

composition, are developed for highly specialized applications. 

For example, copper-nickel alloy is applied to the hulls of 

ships because it does not corrode in seawater and reduces the 

adhesion of marine life, such as barnacles, thereby reducing 

drag and increasing fuel efficiency. Brass is more malleable 

and has better acoustic properties than pure copper or zinc; 

consequently, it is used in a variety of musical instruments, 

including trumpets, trombones, bells, and cymbals.

How Do We Use Copper?
Where Does Copper Come From?

Copper occurs in many forms, but the circumstances 

that control how, when, and where it is deposited are highly 

variable. As a result, copper occurs in many different minerals. 

Chalcopyrite is the most abundant and economically significant 

of the copper minerals. 

Research designed to better understand the geologic 

processes that produce mineral deposits, including copper 

deposits, is an important component of the USGS Mineral 

Resources Program. Copper deposits are broadly classified on 

the basis of how the deposits formed. Porphyry copper deposits, 

which are associated with igneous intrusions, yield about

two-thirds of the world’s copper and are therefore the world’s 

most important type of copper deposit. Large copper deposits 

of this type are found in mountainous regions of western North 

and South America. 

Another important type of copper deposit—the type 

contained in sedimentary rocks—accounts for approximately 

one-fourth of the world’s identified copper resources. These 

deposits occur in such areas as the central African copper belt 

and the Zechstein basin of Eastern Europe. 

Individual copper deposits may contain hundreds of 

millions of tons of copper-bearing rock and commonly 

are developed by using open-pit mining methods. Mining 

operations, which usually follow ore discovery by many 

years, often last for decades. Although many historic mining 

operations were not required to conduct their mining activities 

in ways that would reduce their impact on the environment, 

current Federal and State regulations do require that mining 

operations use environmentally sound practices to minimize 

the effects of mineral development on human and ecosystem 

health. 

USGS mineral environmental research helps characterize 

the natural and human interactions between copper deposits 

and the surrounding aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. 

Research helps define the natural baseline conditions before 

mining begins and after mine closure. USGS scientists are 

investigating climatic, geologic, and hydrologic variables to 

better understand the resource-environment interactions.

Visible from space, the Bingham Canyon copper mine in 

Utah has produced more than 12 million tons of porphyry 

copper. The mine is more than 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) 

across at the top and 800 meters (0.5 mile) deep and is one 

of the engineering wonders of the world. Photograph by 

C.G. Cunningham, USGS.

Did you know?... At least 160 copper-bearing minerals have been identified in nature; some of the more familiar minerals are 

 chalcopyrite, malachite, azurite, and turquoise

Copper consumption changes from 1980 through 2008 for India, the United States, China, and the rest of the world

The qualities of copper that have made it the material 

of choice for a variety of domestic, industrial, and hightechnology applications have resulted in a steady rise 

in global copper consumption. USGS studies of copper 

consumption show some interesting trends for the 1980 

to 2008 time period. Copper consumption in emerging 

economies, such as China and India, rose considerably, 

whereas the consumption rate in industrialized economies, 

such as the United States, fell slightly. Until 2002, the United 

States was the leading copper consumer and annually used 

about 16 percent of total world refined copper (about 2.4 

million tons). In 2002, the United States was overtaken by 

China as the world’s leading user of refined copper. The 

booming economy in China contributed to a tripling of its 

annual refined copper consumption during the 8 years from 

1999 to 2007. Data for 2008 are estimates (e) based on data 

for three-quarters of the year.

Did you know?... The United States was the world’s largest copper producer until 2000; beginning in 2000, Chile became the 

 world’s leading copper producer
Distribution of known copper deposits in 2008. Red indicates copper associated with igneous intrusions (porphyry 

copper deposits) and blue indicates copper contained in sedimentary rocks (sediment-hosted copper deposits).

Did you know?... Before 1982, the U.S. penny was made entirely of copper; since 1982, the U.S. penny has been only coated with copper

Worldwide Supply of and Demand for Copper

The world’s production (supply) and consumption 

(demand) of copper have increased dramatically in the past 25 

years. As large developing countries have entered the global 

market, demand for mineral commodities, including copper, 

has increased. In the past 20 years, the Andean region of South 

America has emerged as the world’s most productive copper 

region. In 2007, about 45 percent of the world’s copper was 

produced from the Andes Mountains; the United States produced 

8 percent. Virtually all copper produced in the United States 

comes from, in decreasing order of production, Arizona, Utah, 

New Mexico, Nevada, or Montana. 

The risk of disruption to the global copper supply is 

considered to be low because copper production is globally 

dispersed and is not limited to a single country or region. 

Because of its importance in construction and power 

transmission, however, the impact of any copper supply 

disruption would be high.

Copper is one of the most widely recycled of all metals; 

approximately one-third of all copper consumed worldwide is 

recycled. Recycled copper and its alloys can be remelted and 

used directly or further reprocessed to refined copper without 

losing any of the metal’s chemical or physical properties. 

Did you know?... Copper is one of the few metals that occur in nature in native form. Because of this, it was one of the first metals used 

 by ancient peoples and it continues to be an important metal today
How Do We Ensure Adequate Supplies of Copper for the Future?

To help predict where future copper resources might be 

located, USGS scientists study how and where known copper 

resources are concentrated in the Earth’s crust and use that 

knowledge to assess the potential for undiscovered copper 

resources. Techniques to assess mineral resource potential 

have been developed and refined by the USGS to support the 

stewardship of Federal lands and to better evaluate mineral 

resource availability in a global context. 

In the 1990s, the USGS conducted an assessment of 

U.S. copper resources and concluded that nearly as much 

copper remained to be found as had already been discovered. 

Specifically, the USGS found that about 350 million tons of 

copper had been discovered and estimated that about 290 million 

tons of copper remained undiscovered in the United States. 

Building on the success of the U.S. national mineral 

resource assessment, the USGS has undertaken a global copper 

resource assessment in collaboration with international partners. 

An assessment of undiscovered porphyry copper resources in 

the Andes Mountains of South America was recently released; 

the authors conclude that more copper remains to be found 

there than has already been discovered. Specifically, about 

590 million tons of copper has been discovered and about 750 

million tons of copper is estimated to remain as undiscovered 

porphyry copper deposits.

Mineral resource assessments are dynamic. Because they 

provide a snapshot that reflects our best understanding of how 

and where ore is located, the assessments must be updated 

periodically as better data and concepts are developed. Current 

research by the USGS involves updating mineral deposit 

models and mineral environmental models for copper and other 

important nonfuel commodities and improving the techniques 

used to assess for concealed mineral resource potential. The 

results of this research will provide new information to decrease 

uncertainty in future mineral resource assessments.

Did you know?... Every American born in 2008 will use an estimated 595 kilograms (1,309 pounds) of copper in his or her lifetime

In 1886, the Statue of Liberty 

represented the largest use of 

copper in a single structure. To 

build the statue, about 80 tons 

of copper sheet was cut and 

hammered to a thickness of 

about 2.3 millimeters (3/32 inch), 

or about that of two U.S. pennies 

placed together. Photograph 

courtesy of National Park Service.

For More Information 

For more technical information

• On production and consumption of copper:

 http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/copper/

• On porphyry copper deposit models:

 http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2008/1321/

• On porphyry copper deposits of the world:

 http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2008/1155/

• On sediment-hosted copper deposits of the world:

 http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2003/of03-107/

• On the assessment of undiscovered deposits of gold, silver, 

 copper, lead, and zinc in the United States: 

 http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/c1178/

• On the assessment of porphyry copper deposits in the Andes 

 Mountains of South America:

 http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2008/1253/

The USGS Mineral Resources Program is the sole Federal 

provider of research and information on copper and other 

nonfuel mineral resources.

For more information about the Program, contact:

Mineral Resources Program Coordinator

U.S. Geological Survey

MS 913, National Center

Reston, VA 20192

Telephone: 703–648–6100

Fax: 703–648–6057

E–mail: minerals@usgs.gov

Home page: http://minerals.usgs.gov

http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/copper/#contacts 

29

Cu

63.55

copper

[Ar]4s13d10

Did you know?... Copper is necessary for human health; the best sources of dietary copper include seafood, organ meats, whole 

 grains, nuts, raisins, legumes, and chocolate

Text prepared by Jeff Doebrich. Graphics and design by Linda Masonic