This document discusses copper and copper alloys, including their properties, extraction, production, uses, and applications. It covers the physical properties of copper, its major ores, and worldwide production levels. Extraction techniques for copper from sulfide and oxide ores are described, involving processes like froth flotation, roasting, smelting, and electrolytic refining. Key copper alloys like brasses, bronzes, cupronickels, and nickel silvers are classified and their phase diagrams discussed. Major applications of copper and its alloys span building construction, pressure vessels, marine uses, and more.

2. “COPPER AND COPPER
ALLOYS”
( PROPERTIES, EXTRACTION,
PRODUCTION, USES AND
APPLICATIONS)

3. GROUP MEMBERS
MUHAMMAD NAVEED ALAM
(2011-MM-06)
ABDUL RAHMAN
(2011-MM-12)
MUHAMMAD EHSAN UL HAQ
(2011-MM-18)
MUHAMMAD SHAHJAHAN
(2011-MM-24)
TALHA NAFEES
(2011-MM-55)

4. AREAS OF DISCUSSION:
• INTRODUCTION TO COPPER (PHYSICAL PROPERTIES,
OCCURRENCE, DEPOSITS, ORES, PRODUCTION)
• MINING AND REFINING OF COPPER (EXTRACTION
TECHNIQUES)
• INTRODUCTION TO COPPER ALLOYS (CLASSIFICATION,
PROPERTIES)
• IMPORTANT CLASSES OF COPPER ALLOYS (BRASSES,
BRONZES, SPECIAL ALLOYS)
• USES AND APPLICATIONS OF PURE COPPER AND
COPPER ALLOYS

5. COPPER:
• Copper (Cu) atomic weight 63.546 is a soft, malleable
and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical
conductivity from the group of Coinage metals in the
modern periodic table.
• There are 29 isotopes of copper. 63Cu and 65Cu are
stable, with 63Cu comprising approximately 69% of
naturally occurring copper. The other isotopes are
radioactive.

6. COLOUR
Reddish orange in
pure form
MELTING POINT
1084.62˚C
BOILING POINT
2927˚C
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
Face centered cubic
(F.C.C)
SPECIFIC GRAVITY
8.96 g/cm3
THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY
401 W/mk
SHEAR MODULUS
48GPa
MODULUS OF ELASTICITY
110-128 GPa
(YOUNG’s MODULUS)
HARDNESS AT MOHs SCALE
3.0

7. ORES OF COPPER:
ORES
CHEMICAL FORMULA
COPPER
CuFeS2
PYRITE/CHALCOPYRITE
CHALCOCITE/ COPPER
Cu2S
GLANCE
MALACHITE
CuCO3.Cu(OH)2
AZURITE
Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2
BORNITE/PEACOCK ORE
3Cu2S.Fe2S3
MELACONITE
CuO
COVELINE
CuS
CHALCOSINE
Cu2S
CHRYSCOLLA
Cu2FeS

9. OCCURRENCE OF COPPER:
• Copper is present in the Earth's crust at a concentration
of about 50 parts per million (ppm)
• Copper occurs as native copper or in mineral such as the
copper sulfides chalcopyrite and chalcocite, copper
carbonates azurite and malachite and the copper(I) oxide
mineral cuprite.
• The largest mass of elemental copper discovered
weighed 420 tonnes and was found in 1857 on the
Keweenaw Peninsula in Michigan US.
• In Pakistan large copper deposits are discovered in Reko
Diq (Baluchistan) and Saindak town in Chagai District.
• The total amount of copper on Earth is vast i.e. around
1014 tons just in the top kilometer of Earth's crust.

10. WORLDWIDE PRODUCTION OF COPPER

11. EXTRACTION TECHNIQUES FOR COPPER
• Copper ore is mined both underground and on the surface.
Large excavations formed by surface mining are called
open-pit mines.
• Most of the copper ores mined today are oxide or sulfide
ores.
• HYDROMETALLURGICAL operations are required for
treating very poor grade oxide ores (LEACHING)
• PYROMETALLURGICAL treatments are given to the
sulphide ores for their smelting and roasting.
• ELECTROMETALLURGICAL techniques are employed
for the electro refining of blister copper or copper scrap.

12. EXTRACTION OF COPPER FROM
SULPHIDE ORES
• Copper is extracted usually from the sulphide ore
chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) by smelting process.
• Ores containing 4% or more copper are treated by smelting
process.
• There are following steps for the Pyrometallurgical
extraction of copper from Chalcopyrite.
1. CONCENTRATION
2. ROASTING
3. SMELTING
4. BESSEMERIZATION

13. CONCENTRATION BY FROTH
FLOTATION
“Crushed ore is suspended in water containing pine
oil. The pine oil binds to the copper compounds, but
not to the unwanted rocky material. A blast of air is
passed through the suspension. The particles of ore
get wetted by oil and floats as a froth which is
skimmed. The gangue sinks to the bottom.”

14. ROASTING
The concentrated ore is roasted in the furnace in the
presence of oxygen. Sulphur is oxidized to SO2 and
impurities of arsenic and antimony are removed as
volatile oxides. The following reactions take place:
2CuFeS2 + O2
S + O2
Cu2S + 2FeS + SO2
SO2
4As + 3O2
2As2O3
4Sb + 3O2
2Sb2O3
Cu2S + O2
Cu2O + SO2
FeS + O2
FeO + SO2

15. SMELTING
The roasted ore is mixed with coke and silica sand (SiO2) and is
introduced into a blast furnace. The hot air is blasted and FeO is
converted into ferrous silicate (FeSiO3)
FeO + SiO2
Cu2O + FeS
FeSiO3
Cu2S + FeO
FeSiO3 (slag) floats over the molten matte of copper.
The resulting product of smelting is the combination of copper sulfate
and iron sulfide called matte (Copper matte).

16. BESSEMERIZATION
Copper metal is extracted from molten
matte through bessemerization . The
matte is introduced in to Bessemer
converter which uphold by tuyeres. The
air is blown through the molten matte.
Blast of air converts Cu 2S partly into
Cu2O which reacts with remaining
Cu2S to give molten copper.
2Cu2S + 3O2
2Cu2O + Cu2S
2Cu2O + 2SO2
6Cu + SO2

17. BLISTER COPPER
The product of Bessemerization is called as “Blister
Copper” because, as it solidifies, SO 2 hidden in it
escapes out producing blister on its surface.

18. REFINING OF BLISTER COPPER
• Blister copper is refined by electrolysis. The blister copper then
undergoes "fire refining.“
• Air and natural gas are blown through the copper to remove any
remaining sulfur and oxygen.
• The copper is cast into copper anodes and placed in an electrolytic
cell. Once charged, the pure copper collects on the cathode and is
removed as 99% pure.
• Blocks of blister copper are used as anodes and thin sheets of pure
copper act as cathodes. The cathode plates are coated with graphite
in order to remove depositing copper.
• The electrolyte is copper sulphate (CuSO4) mixed with a little
amount of H2SO4 to increase the electrical conductivity.
• Optimum potential difference is 1.3 volt for this electrolytic
process.

19. ELECTROLYTIC TANK FOR REFINING
Cu
Cu+2+2eCu+2+2eCu
Fe(s) → Fe2+(aq) + 2e–
Zn(s) → Zn2+(aq) + 2e–

20. EXTRACTION OF PRECIOUS METALS
FROM ANODE SLUDGE
Impurities, such as Ag, Au, and Pt, are less easily oxidized than
Cu. These remain in metallic form and fall to the bottom of the
cell, forming “anode sludge” from which they can later be
recovered. The anode sludges from copper-refining cells provide
one fourth of U.S. silver production and about one eighth of U.S.
gold production.

21. ALLOYS OF COPPER

22. CLASSIFICATION OF
COPPER AND
COPPER ALLOYS

23. DESIGNATED OF ALLOYS
wrought alloys
designated C16000 - C79999
forged,rolled,hot and cold work can be done
Generic name
Wrought alloys
UNS numbers
Composition
Coppers
C10100-C15760
>99%Cu
High-copper alloys
C16200-C19600
>96%Cu
Brasses
C20500-C28580
Cu-Zn
Leaded brasses
C31200-C38590
Cu-Zn-Pb
Tin brasses
C40400-C49080
Cu-Zn-Sn-Pb
Phosphor bronzes
C50100-C52400
Cu-Sn-P
Leaded phosphor bronzes
C53200-C54800
Cu-Sn-Pb-P
Copper-phosphorus and coppersilver phosphorus alloys
C55180-C55284
Cu-P-Ag
Aluminum bronzes
C60600-C64400
Cu-Al-Ni-Fe-Si-Sn
Silicon bronzes
C64700-C66100
Cu-Si-Sn
Other copper-zinc alloys
C66400-C69900
Copper-nickels
C70000-C79900
Cu-Ni-Fe
Nickel silvers
C73200-C79900
Cu-Ni-Zn
Unified
Numbering
System(UNS)
Three digit xxx
UNS of five digits
xxxxx
Starts with C

24. CAST ALLOYS
designated C81300 - C99999
these alloys can be casted
Cast alloys
Coppers
C80100-C81100
>99%Cu
High-copper alloys
C81300-C82800
>96%Cu
Red and leaded red brasses
C83300-C85800
Cu-Zn-Sn-Pb(75-89%Cu)
Yellow and leaded yellow brasses
C85200-C85800
Cu-Zn-Sn-Pb(57-74%Cu)
Manganese bronzes and leaded
manganese bronzes
C86100-C86800
Cu-Zn-Mn-Fe-Pb
Silicon bronzes, silicon brasses
C87300-C87900
Cu-Zn-Si
Tin bronzes and leaded tin bronzes
C90200-C94500
Cu-Sn-Zn-Pb
Nickel-tin bronzes
C94700-C94900
Cu-Ni-Sn-Zn-Pb
Aluminum bronzes
C95200-C95810
Cu-Al-Fe-Ni
Copper-nickels
C96200-C96800
Cu-Ni-Fe
Nickel silvers
C97300-C97800
Cu-Ni-Zn-Pb-Sn
Leaded coppers
C98200-C98800
Cu-Pb
Miscellaneous alloys
C99300-C99750

25. CLASSIFICATION OF COPPER ALLOYS
 There are five different classification of copper alloys
3)Bronze
1)Unalloyed
Copper
2)Brasses
•
•
•
•
Copper – Tin alloys
Copper – Aluminium alloys
Copper – Silicon alloys
Copper – Beryllium alloys
Copper – Zinc alloys
Copper – Lead alloys
Copper – Zinc alloys with
Tin and Aluminium
additions
4) Cu-Ni
based
5) Nickel
silver
• Cupronickel (CuNi)
• Nickel silver (CuNi-Zn

26. 1)UNALLOYED COPPER
• Copper content > 99.3%
Roughly classify into three categories
• Electrolytic tough pitch
This copper contains 99.9% Cu
with 0.045 O content
• Oxygen – free
Oxygen-free copper is produced
from electrorefined cathode copper which is melt and cast in
a reducing atmosphere of CO and N to prevent O.
• Phosphorus deoxidized
Phosphorus is sufficiently added
to produce phosphoruspentoxide P2O5

27. 2) BRASS:
There are two Class of brass
• The alpha alloys
with less than 37% Zinc.
These alloys are ductile and
can be cold worked.
•
Families of Brass
• Cast alloy brasses
• Copper-Tin-Zinc alloys (red, semi-red
and yellow brasses)
• Cast Copper-Bismuth and CopperBismuth-Selenium alloys.
• Copper-Zinc-Silicon alloys (Silicon
brasses and bronzes)
• The alpha/beta or duplex
alloys
with 37-45% Zinc. These
alloys have limited cold
ductility and are typically
harder and stronger
• wrought alloy brasses
• Copper-Zinc alloys
• Copper-Zinc-Tin alloys (Tin brasses)
• Copper-Zinc-Lead alloys (Leaded
brasses)

28. 3) BRONZE
FAMILIES OF BRONZE ARE
• Cast bronze alloys
• Wrought alloys
• Copper-Tin alloys (Tin
Bronzes)
• Copper-TinPhosphorus alloys
(Phosphor Bronzes)
• Copper-Tin-Lead alloys
(Leaded and high leaded
Tin Bronzes)
• Copper-Tin-LeadPhosphorus alloys
(Leaded Phosphor
Bronzes)
• Copper-Tin-Nickel alloys
(nickel-tin bronzes)
• Copper-Aluminium alloys
(Aluminium Bronzes)
• Copper-Aluminium
alloys (Aluminium
Bronzes)

29. ALLOYING ELEMENT
 Strength
 Color
 Electrical and thermal
conductivity
 Machinability
 Corrosion resistant
 Wear resistant

30. ALLOYING ADDITIONS IN COPPER

31. SPECIAL ALLOYS
WHICH DON'T FALL IN ANY CATEGORY WHICH ARE
MENTIONED
• FREE
MACHINING
COPPERS
• COPPERTUNGSTEN
ALLOY

32. CLASSIFICATION
1. Brasses
2. Bronzes
3. Cupronickels (Alloys of Copper & Nickel)
4. Nickel silver (Alloys of copper, Zinc & Nickel)

33. BRASSES-GENERAL
Alpha Brasses (Alloys containing 36 %
Zinc)
•
Yellow Alpha Brasses
•
Red Alpha Brasses
Alpha + Beta Brasses (54-62% copper)
• Defects in Brasses
• Intergranuler corrosion (Seasonal
Cracking)
• Dezincification

34. PHASE DIAGRAM

35. BRONZES
• Tin Bronzes
• Al Bronzes
• Silicon Bronzes
• Beryllium Bronzes

36. TIN BRONZES
• Alloys of copper and tin
• Other Alloying Elements may also be present With
The Exception of Zinc
• Also called Phosphor bronzes
• Phosphorus content (0.01-0.5%)
• Tin Content (1-11%)
• High corrosion resistance , Toughness ,Low
coefficient of friction, free from seasonal cracking

37. PHASE DIAGRAM

38. SILICON BRONZES
• Alloys of Copper And Silicon
• Maximum Solubility In Alpha Phase is 5.3 and decrease with
the temperature
• Alloys contains less than 5% Si are single Phased
• These are the Strongest of the work hard enable Copper
Alloys
• Their Mechanical Properties are comparable to mild steel and
corrosion resistance is comparable to copper
• These are used for Tanks , pressure vessels , Marine
construction , hydrulic preassure lines

39. PHASE DIAGRAM

40. ALUMINUM BRONZE
• Alloys of Al & Cu
• Maximum solubility of Al in α-solid solution is 9.5%
• Commercial Al bronzes contain (4-11%)Al
• Alloys containing up to 7.5% al are single phase, other are
double phase
• Other elements are also added intentionally e-g , Fe , Mn , Si
, Ni
• Iron Increases strength , silicon improves machinability , Mn
improves sound casting
• Single phase Bronze show good cold working propertis along
with high corrosion resistance to water and atomsphere
• These are used for water condenser tubes,nuts , bolts,
corrosion resistance vessels ,and in marine application

41. PHASE DIAGRAM

42. BERYLLIUM BRONZES
• Alloys of Cu & Beryllium
• Maximum solubility in Alpha solid Solution is 2.1 % and
decreases to 0.25 % to room temperature
• It is increased by age hardening
• They have excellent formability ,high tensile strength , creep
resistance , high electrical conductivity
• These are used in diaphrames , surgical instrument ,bolts &
screws , firing pins , dies.

43. PHASE DIAGRAM

44. CUPRO NICKELS
• Alloys of Cu & Ni , contains upto 30 % Ni
• Cupronickels Alloys are single phase alloys
• No heat treatment is required
• Properties are improved only by cold working
• They have high fatigue resistance , high corrosion &
erosion resistance toward sea water
• These are widely used in condenser , heat exchanger
tubes , coastal power plants

45. PHASE DIAGRAM

46. NICKEL SILVER
• Alloys of Cu-Ni-Zn
• Commercial Alloys are contain Cu (50-70%) , Ni (5-10%) , Zn
(5-40%)
• If copper is more than 60 % these are single phased ,ductile &
easily workable at room temp.
• Addition of Zinc imparts silver-blue-white colour ,good
corrosion resistance.
• These are Excellent base metals for plating with Cr ,Ni ,Ag
• These are used For Rivets, screws, Costume jewelry , name
plates & radio dials

47. COPPER AND COPPER ALLOYS
APPLICATIONS
ELECTRICAL APPLICATIONS
 Approximately 65% of copper produced is used for electrical applications.
 Power generation and transmission
generators, transformers, motors, busbars and cables provide and
deliverelectricity safely and efficiently to homes and businesses.
 Electrical equipment - providing circuitry, wiring and contacts for PCs,
TVs and mobile phones.

48.  Copper is used in the manufacturing of heatsinks.
 In a microchip, copper is commonly used for what is known as the
'global interconnects' because of its good conductivity. These are the
wires that connect different sections of the chip together.
 Cu-Ni 70-30 alloy is used in steam generators, heat exchangers,
coolers, condensers, tanks, pipework, valves and fittings in
electricity generation by Nuclear means

49. CONSTRUCTION APPLICATIONS
 25% of all the copper produced is used in
buildings.
 The skin of STATUE Of LIBERTY is made
of 81.3 tones Cu.
 Cu is used in roofs, flashings, gutters, downspouts,
domes, spires, vaults, wall cladding and building
expansion joints.

50. TRANSPORT APPLICATIONS
 Transport accounts for 7% of copper usage.
NUCLEAR WASTE is enclosed
in these containers having Cu
shell on it.

51.  Automotives radiator is made of copper-brass
alloy.
MEDICAL APPLICATIONS
 Bacteria will not grow on cu surface b/c it is BIOSTATIC.
 Cu doorknobs are used by hospitals to reduce the transfer of
diseases.
 LEGIONNAIRE’S disease is suppressed by Cu tubing in air
conditioning system.
 Copper's naturally antimicrobial properties can be exploited in
hygienic surfaces for hospitals and healthcare facilities.
 CuSO4 is used as a fungicides and as algae control in domestic

52. KITCHENWARE APPLICATIONS
 The burnished glow of copper radiates beauty and warmth the
kitchen.

53. COMMON APPLICATIONS
 The remaining 3% is used for coins, sculptures, musical instruments
and cookware.
 Cu-alloy is used in Bullets making.
One eurocent coin:
94.35% steel
5.65% copper
10 eurocent coin:
89% copper
5% aluminium
5% zinc
1% tin
PKR 5:
Cupro Nikle alloys

54. HEAT EXCHANGERS/RADIATORS:
INNER GROOVED COPPER TECHNOLOGY

55. CUTTING BRASS:
 Hardware: Gears and pinions
 Industrial: Automatic high speed screw
machine parts
GILDING METAL (BRONZE):
 Bullet proof jackets
 Jewellery
 Enameled badges

56. THANK YOU FOR PAYING
ATTENTION!

57. QUESTIONNAIRE????