Copper: An Industry in Transition Term Paper by Top Papers

The paper relates that copper is one of the most in-demand minerals in trade today; as an important component in any mechanical, electrical or conductive technology, it is central to development. The paper discusses how the global copper industry has grown exponentially for the last hundred years, driven by investments in infrastructure. The paper describes the deposit mining in Chile and southern Africa, the ore extraction in Canada and Australia and the mining processes in the US, and shows how the copper industry is a global endeavor. The paper points out that ores extracted are often shipped and processed in facilities far from their original mining locations.