Copper

Copper is an element that is normally found in its native state and can be occasionally found in a crystal form, which has a great amount of value to collectors in this state. It can also be found in masses without crystal forms. Almost all the native forms of copper can be found in ancient lava forms in the mid west. Northern Michigan is the only place where commercial deposits of this sort were found. The glaciers took various little masses to the south and these nuggets can be found every once in awhile, even though most of them were most likely found by Indians who used them to make jewelry many years ago. Copper is easy to recognize because of its copper looking color and its malleability. The color of copper is copper red, it has a metallic luster, has a hardness of 2.5 to 3 and a specific gravity of 8.9. Around one half of the copper that is utilized in the United States is used for electrical equipment. It is also used for shaping metal products such as tubes, pipes as well as other plumbing fixtures, hardware and machinery tool products. Copper is also utilized in the transportation industry, as well as in other diverse things.

Copper Ores
Usually a commercially valuable deposit of copper can be found as sulphide. The minerals would consist of chalcopyrite, chalococite, bornite, tetrahedrite, cuprite, malachite, chrysocolla, and azurite and all of these are easy to recognize because of their coloring, which are usually green or blue, some nonetheless are brown. In most cases, the color is very outstanding and a lot of these are high-quality mineral specimens or gem cutting material.