copper deposits
Underground mineral concentrations
Copper deposits are natural accumulations of copper ore in the earth's crust, formed through geological processes over millions of years.
Mining companies explore for and extract copper deposits to produce the metal used in wiring, plumbing, and electronics: The region's copper deposits attracted prospectors in the 1880s.
Also used figuratively for any significant concentration of copper-containing material.
- supergene enrichmentMineral concentration by descending water
- mineOre excavation site
- oreMetal-bearing rock
- azuriteBlue copper carbonate mineral
- rockSolid earthen material
malachite · vein · underground mining · seam · smelting · nugget · sulfide · assay · open pit mine · native · prospecting · mining · green · leaching · motherlode · drill · turquoise · rich
- mineralizationcalcification, crystallization, fossilization, petrification, precipitation
- mineralsquartz, marble, granite, limestone, sandstone
- natural resourcescrude oil, lumber, water, gas, air
- metal miningopen-pit mine, underground mine, ore veins, mineral veins, underground mining
- US GeologyAppalachians, Rocky Mountains, Rockies, Grand Canyon, San Andreas Fault
- cell inclusionsinclusion bodies, ferritin, glycogen, melanin, Howell-Jolly bodies
concentration level
copper depositstrace amounts