Mining & Recycling

Sustainable mining practices and 100% recyclability add to the value and importance of copper, making it the world's most reusable resource!

Long Term Availability of Copper

This webinar discusses the many predictions and evaluations of our usage and more specifically the availability of copper ores for long term supply to the copper industry and worldwide usage. Various predictions and prediction models are discussed and the outcomes from them. Differing opinions and points of view are presented. However, the overall conclusion is that we foresee good availability of copper long into the future.

Launch Video

Technical Reports

InfographicScrap contamination: Challenges and opportunities for copper recycling [PDF-9.6 MB]
Recycling is an essential function of the copper value chain, with scrap accounting for approximately 60% of all copper sources for U.S. brass mills excluding wire rod. Copper scrap containing certain alloying and impurity elements must be separated to prevent the introduction of contaminants to remelting feedstock. Contaminated scrap causes costly production and product quality issues, even in trace amounts. See highlights from CDA’s global semi-fabricator survey to learn more about scrap contamination challenges and solutions.

The U.S. Copper-base Scrap Industry and Its By-products - 2013 [PDF-1.42 MB]
For nearly 5,000 years, copper was the only metal known to man. Today, it's one of the most used and reused of our "modern" metals.

An easy to read discussion on copper recycling by the British Copper Development Association.

An in-depth collection of articles in Innovations, our on-line e-zine, on how copper is recycled in individual products such as roofs, radiators, etc.

Trends in US copper alloy scrap and effects of product shifts

Copper alloy scrap provides about half of the copper consumed in the United States each year. Read more.