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Seven thousand years in the service of humanity--the history of copper, the red metal

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  • Radetzki, Marian

Abstract

Measured by weight, copper is the third most important metal used by man. The annual value of its 2007 output was on a par with the GDP of e.g. Ukraine. Copper is also one of the oldest metals, its employment going back 7000 years. For millennia, it was predominantly employed for decorative purposes, coinage and in warfare. Technical breakthroughs in antiquity, like smelting and alloying, expanded its production and enhanced its utility. Copper's true heyday occurred after 1850, with the usage of electricity. In the period since then, volumes increased 300-fold, while costs and prices declined. With impressive progress in the technology of its production and consumption, the red metal has been able to hold its own, despite the emergence over history of formidable substitutes like iron, aluminum, plastics and optic fiber.

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  • Radetzki, Marian, 2009. "Seven thousand years in the service of humanity--the history of copper, the red metal," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 176-184, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jrpoli:v:34:y:2009:i:4:p:176-184
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Tapia Cortez, Carlos A. & Hitch, Michael & Sammut, Claude & Coulton, Jeff & Shishko, Robert & Saydam, Serkan, 2018. "Determining the embedding parameters governing long-term dynamics of copper prices," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 186-197.
    2. Stuermer, Martin, 2018. "150 Years Of Boom And Bust: What Drives Mineral Commodity Prices?," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 22(3), pages 702-717, April.
    3. Stuermer, Martin, 2017. "Industrialization and the demand for mineral commodities," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 16-27.
    4. Stuermer, Martin & Schwerhoff, Gregor, 2013. "Technological change in resource extraction and endogenous growth," Bonn Econ Discussion Papers 12/2013, University of Bonn, Bonn Graduate School of Economics (BGSE).
    5. Martin Stuermer & Maxwell Fleming & Ian Lange & Sayeh Shojaeinia, 2023. "Growth and Resources in Space: Pushing the Final Frontier?," Working Papers 2023-02, Colorado School of Mines, Division of Economics and Business.
    6. C. A. Tapia Cortez & J. Coulton & C. Sammut & S. Saydam, 2018. "Determining the chaotic behaviour of copper prices in the long-term using annual price data," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 4(1), pages 1-13, December.
    7. Martin Stürmer & Gregor Schwerhoff, 2012. "Non-Renewable but Inexhaustible – Resources in an Endogenous Growth Model," Discussion Paper Series of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods 2012_09, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods.
    8. Bruno Lanz & Thomas F. Rutherford & John E. Tilton, 2013. "Subglobal Climate Agreements and Energy-intensive Activities: An Evaluation of Carbon Leakage in the Copper Industry," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(3), pages 254-279, March.
    9. Rasmus Noss, Bang & Trellevik, Lars-Kristian Lunde, 2022. "Transition to Marine Mining?," Discussion Papers 2022/9, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Business and Management Science.
    10. John Ryter & Xinkai Fu & Karan Bhuwalka & Richard Roth & Elsa Olivetti, 2022. "Assessing recycling, displacement, and environmental impacts using an economics‐informed material system model," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 26(3), pages 1010-1024, June.
    11. Rausser, Gordon & Stuermer, Martin, 2020. "A Dynamic Analysis of Collusive Action: The Case of the World Copper Market, 1882-2016," MPRA Paper 104708, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Rasmus Noss Bang & Lars-Kristian Lunde Trellevik, 2023. "Reserve-dependent capital efficiency, cross-sector competition, and mineral security considerations in mineral industry transition," Mineral Economics, Springer;Raw Materials Group (RMG);Luleå University of Technology, vol. 36(3), pages 383-400, September.
    13. Koji Tokimatsu & Shinsuke Murakami & Tsuyoshi Adachi & Ryota Ii & Rieko Yasuoka & Masahiro Nishio, 2017. "Long-term demand and supply of non-ferrous mineral resources by a mineral balance model," Mineral Economics, Springer;Raw Materials Group (RMG);Luleå University of Technology, vol. 30(3), pages 193-206, October.
    14. Gregor Schwerhoff & Martin Stuermer, 2015. "Non-renewable resources, extraction technology, and endogenous growth," Working Papers 1506, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

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