The copper in your day had a life before it reached you.
A wire, a motor, a circuit board. Start with an everyday object, then follow the material into the places and processes behind it.
First, ask what is moving.
Copper moves as ore, concentrate, refined metal, wire and scrap. The material changes as it moves through extraction, smelting, refining, manufacturing, use and recovery.
A tonne of ore is not a tonne of copper. The atlas keeps source net weight, contained metal and product form separate. A line between operations records a documented connection; it does not establish the itinerary of your particular object.
Three ways into the story
How does copper change form?
Explore production, trade, use and recovery with the relevant source and period in view.
THE CONNECTIONSWhich places are documented?
Follow named operations and read the evidence attached to each connection.
THE EVIDENCEWhat do the records establish?
Inspect source coverage, methods and the questions the data leaves open.
Follow one question.
Choose a copper object near you. What would you need to know to trace its material? Which stages can the atlas help explain, and where does the evidence stop?
Found a missing connection or a source that changes the picture? Send a specific question or correction, with the page, source and claim you want us to look at.
Updates cover new journeys, maps and source data. Joining the list is optional.
Start with primary sources
- Copper statistics and informationUS Geological Survey
- Highland Valley Copper operationsTeck
- From concentrate to finished productGlencore Canada · Horne