I have this azurite rock and thought it might be interesting to retrieve some pure copper from it. How would I do this?
Nickel is produced especially from sulfide ores (nickeline [NiAs] and millerite [NiS] and pentlandite [(Fe,Ni)9 S8]. ) the main worry-unfastened smelting approach is oxidation in a blast furnace comparable to extracting iron from pyrite.
Copper has a fairly high melting point, (about 1900F). You would have to build a back yard forge to do it. Look on Youtube for back yard forge.
You would have to heat it to a very high temperature to melt and extract the copper. I don't know if the average person could do that.
I think you have to heat it up to its melting point and the different metals will settle in specific areas based on their weight. I know that's how they separate gold and silver and lead
To retrieve copper from azurite you need to dissolve the azurite in acid. Muriatic (pool acid, aka hydrochloric) or even vinegar will do. First you should grind the azurite to a powder and then pour it into the acid. It should bubble as the azurite begins to dissolve. Once dissolved a copper saturated solution of copper chloride will result. To extract the copper place a paper clip into the solution. The iron from the paper clip goes into the solution and the copper begins to crystallize and replace the paper clip. If there is enough copper in the solution, the entire paper clip will be replaced by copper. This technique is similar to the one used in large copper mines across the country, except they use sulfuric acid to produce copper sulfate.
