>
>The commonest feedstock to the copper smelter is a concentrate
>of chalcopyrite, a copper iron sulphide. The first stage of smelting
>oxidises off most of the sulphur and leaves "matte", mainly a
>copper-iron alloy. This is usually carried by ladles to the refining
>furnaces, where a blast of oxygen through a lance oxidises the
>iron, leaving crude "blister" copper.
>
>Tony Brewis
Was there any commercial exploitation of malachite (copper carbonate), and
if so how would it be treated? Crushed and then heated to drive off CO2,
leaving a copper oxide? My O level chemistry was an _awful_ long time ago!
Richard Kelham
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