the first metal known to man

The first metal known to man, copper came into wide use during the Bronze Age, 3,500 to 1,1000 B.C. The name derives from the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, which was the chief source of the metal in the ancient world. The Romans called it aes Cyprium or “Cyprium metal,” which was corrupted to cuprum and ultimately to the English “copper.”

Worldwide production is about 8 million tons annually, and copper prices are highly cyclical: In 1980, prices ranged as high as a dollar twenty cents a pound, a big jump from depressed prices a few years earlier of fifty cents a pound.

It is the most versatile of all metals, with literally thousands of uses. It is widely employed in the communications, construction, and transportation industries, and for numerous household items such as toasters, lamps, pots and jewelry. Its versatility derives from a unique combination of valuable physical properties; it has better electrical and thermal conductivity than any metal other than silver. About half the world’s copper production is used for electrical purposes, since it is very ductile and malleable, and of course, cheaper than silver, the only other metal with better conductivity. Copper is the principal ingredient in solar energy collectors. Copper and its alloys, brass and bronze, are also the most esthetically pleasing commercial metals, the only ones with natural, warm, glowing colors. They are extremely resistant to corrosion and virtually indestructible under normal conditions. Copper’s durability is legendary. Copper pipe installed 5,400 years ago to carry water to the pyramid of the Egyptian pharaoh Cheops is still operational today.


The Conquest of Copper Mountain by Forbes Wilson. Antheneum. 1981. p.7