Some interesting info on copper from Wikipedia...
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (Latin: cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with excellent electrical conductivity and is rather supple in its pure state and has a pinkish luster which is (beside gold) unusual for metals which are normally silvery white. It finds use as a heat conductor, an electrical conductor, as a building material, and as a constituent of various metal alloys.
Copper is among the most important industrial metals. Like fossil fuels, copper is a finite resource. Copper is being used extensively in electrical power cables, data cables, electrical equipment, automobile radiators, cooling and refrigeration tubing, heat exchangers, artillery shell casings, water pipes and even jewelery. This reddish-brown metal is a commodity that the world cannot afford to be in short supply of.
Copper is an essential trace nutrient to all high plants and animals. In animals, including humans, it is found primarily in the bloodstream, as a co-factor in various enzymes, and in copper-based pigments. However, in sufficient amounts, copper can be poisonous and even fatal to organisms.
A number of countries, such as Chile and the United States, still have sizable reserves of the metal which are extracted through large open pit mines, however like tin there may be insufficient reserves to sustain current rates of consumption.[1] High demand relative to supply has caused a price spike in the 2000s[2].
The Earth has an estimated 61 years of copper reserves remaining.[20] Environmental analyst, Lester Brown, however, has suggested copper might run out within 25 years based on a reasonable extrapolation of 2% growth per year.[21]
Copper has been in use at least 10,000 years, but more than 95 percent of all copper ever mined and smelted has been extracted since 1900. And as India and China race to catch up with the West, copper supplies are getting tight.[22] Copper is among the most important industrial metals. Like fossil fuels, copper is a finite resource.
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