At the same time, copper, usually in its bronze form, had an important use as an element of art in Antiquity. Even today statues of the Roman emperors, made from bronze, can be admired in the museums of Rome. This trend continued 1,000 years later, in the Renaissance period. Artists like Donatello used bronze to cast their statues. Even earlier than that, copper and bronze had been used for the doors of churches and baptisteries, as is the wonderful example of the Baptistery of Florence.

Again, diversification of man's activities implied new uses for copper. Ships were protected from the water erosion, as well as from potential rocks and other obstacles, with copper used on their hulls. With the discovery of electricity and its main laws, copper began to be used extensively as an excellent conductor, a use still valid today in many parts of the world.

Copper is generally widespread around the world, although, as is the case with many other resources, the needs will mean that the supplies will end at some point. This is reflected in the increasing price of copper on the open market, with levels reaching almost $8 per kilogram of copper. On the other hand, copper is recyclable, which is a great advantage and which means that this resource can actually be used for a longer period of time. It seems that in the U.S., for...

Countries like the United States, Canada, Russia or Kazakhstan still remain some of the leading producers of copper. Exploitation is generally in the form of copper sulfides.
As an interesting fact about copper and its uses, one of the most symbolic and representative things in the United States, the Statue of Liberty, has 179,000 pounds of copper.

Bibliography

1. On the Internet at http://www.nwma.org/education/copper_facts.htm.Last retrieved on January 4, 2009

2. Carless, Jenny. Chile's Codelco, the World's Largest Copper Producer, Uses Cisco Wireless Technology in Its Mines. December 2004. On the Internet at http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2004/ts_122704.html.Last retrieved on January 4, 2009

On the Internet at http://www.nwma.org/education/copper_facts.htm.Last retrieved on January 4, 2009

Carless, Jenny. Chile's Codelco, the World's Largest Copper Producer, Uses Cisco Wireless Technology in Its Mines. December 2004. On the Internet at http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2004/ts_122704.html.Last retrieved on January 4, 2009