The Causes And Consequences Of Copper

Copper is one of the few metals that have been mined for more than 100 decades globally. According to M.G.C Wilson (1989) copper has been mined since the early 3000 BC in Cyprus. In the ancient times copper was used for making tools, weapons, ornaments and many household utensils. Copper is the third most widely used metal after aluminium (Al) and iron (Fe) because of its high durability (Doebrich et.al,2009). In the Southern African region copper has been extracted by the early inhabitants long before 1598, where Vasco Da Gama circled the Cape of Good Hope and realised the quantity of copper that was extracted by the people (Wilson M.G.C, 1989). Copper is an element that occurs in minor amounts in the Earth's crust. Copper mines are found
The subduction zone is defined as an area where one plate tectonic with higher density overlays the plate with the lowest density. As the underlying plate descends into the magma, pressure accumulates and the magma is then pushed upwards towards the surface where a volcano is
The name originated from their knowledge of how copper present in the ore was able to weaken the iron melted from it. Their main aim of extracting copper was to melt the iron however, the tribe got to learn more of the metals properties and how it can be used in various ways (Hanisch, 1974). The Bantu tribe began to learn of its other uses such as cooking utensils, fashioning it into ingots which became standard items of barter with other tribes and Arab safari traders (Hanisch, 1974). Ingots were slabs of copper that were produced through smelting of the copper