Copper

The workhorse conductor of the electrical age: grids, motors and buildings run on copper, and electrification needs ever more of it.

Base metals · No. 6

• EU strategic
• EU critical 2023
• US critical 2025
• India critical 2023
• HHI 1,089 · unconcentrated

China mines just 8% of the world's copper, yet refines about 45% of it.

Chart: Illustration: Copper

Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

Most copper comes from huge low-grade porphyry deposits in the Andes and from Central Africa's Copperbelt. Ore under 1% copper is blasted, crushed and floated before smelting.

Three things to know

1. By the mid-1800s Britain made over half the world's copper, much of it smelted in Swansea.
2. Building construction takes 42% of US copper, more than electrical and electronic products at 23%.
3. Scrap provided about 30% of US copper supply in 2025.

The journey

1. 1 OreSulfide or oxide rock from open pits
2. 2 ConcentrateFloated to 25-35% copper
3. 3 SmeltingBlister or anode copper, 97-99% pure
4. 4 RefiningElectrorefined to 99.99% cathode
5. 5 ProductsWire rod, tube, sheet and brass

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