Question

Assuming that copper metal can be extracted from a given mass of any ore at the same cost, which of the two minerals could be mined profitably for copper? Malachite or chalcopyrite?

Answer 1

Question #47778, Chemistry, Other

Assuming that copper metal can be extracted from a given mass of any ore at the same cost, which of the two minerals could be mined profitably for copper? Malachite or chalcopyrite?

Answer:

Malachite Cu₂(CO₃)(OH)₂  M=141 g/mol

Chalcopyrite CuFeS₂  M=183.5 g/mol

Calculate the percentage of copper in each of the minerals:

%Cu in malachite: 2Cu/Cu₂(CO₃)(OH)₂ = 2*63.5/141 = 0.90 =90%

%Cu in chalcopyrite: Cu/CuFeS₂ = 63.5/183.5 = 0.346 = 34.6 %

This implies that more than malachite copper in chalcopyrite, so for the extraction of copper metal is advantageous to use malachite.

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