Natural Resources
Experiment: Extracting copper from copper ore
Aim: To extract copper from copper ore
Materials:
 Teaspoon
 synthetic copper ore (made from equal amounts of copper carbonate, sand, and plaster of Paris)
 copper oxide
 water
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mortar
pestle
sulfuric acid (1.0 M best, more dilute will
suffice)
sodium hydroxide solution (1.0 M or more
dilute)
Bunsen burner and lighter
heat mat
filter paper
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filter funnel
retort stand
ring clamp
beakers of various sizes,
power pack
wire leads with alligator clips x 2
carbon electrode
metal object such as a shiny nail
Method:
To make synthetic copper ore measure equal amounts of copper carbonate, sand, and plaster of Paris into a
small beaker. A teaspoon of each is ideal. Then add a small amount of copper ore and mix well. Add a small
amount of water to make a small dark coloured rock. This is your copper ore. Leave it overnight until it
hardens.
To extract the copper atoms from synthetic copper ore we can follow the steps used by giant mining companies.
1. Crush the ore sample. Grind the sample in a mortar and pestle, do not hammer it. Reduce the chunk to
sand sized pieces.
2. Making the concentrate. Dissolve the powdered ore in sulfuric acid, H2SO4. Wear safety glasses as the
reaction will fizz and bubble. Add the minimum amount of acid that you can. Remove the sand by
filtration.
3. Add the minimum amount of dilute sodium hydroxide, NaOH. (You may have to warm the mixture to
get a complete reaction.) This will convert the blue solution of copper sulfate, CuSO4, into black
insoluble copper oxide, CuO. Filter the copper oxide and put it aside to dry. The copper oxide is
impure, and you may see white powder on the surface of it. This is sodium sulfate (from the sodium
hydroxide and sulfuric acid, and some left-over plaster of Paris). This can be removed by washing the
precipitate with clean water.
4. Refine the copper using electricity. Dissolve the copper
oxide into the minimum amount of sulfuric acid. Set up
the experiment shown beside, and deposit a small amount
of copper metal onto the nail.
Results:
Record your observations of this process in the results section on
the following page.