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Blister Copper Smelter Sample, 1.75 pounds #109471

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Mining Start Price:50.00 USD Estimated At:100.00 - 250.00 USD
Blister Copper Smelter Sample, 1.75 pounds  #109471
SOLD
50.00USD+ (12.50) buyer's premium + applicable fees & taxes.
This item SOLD at 2019 Dec 08 @ 10:36UTC-8 : PST/AKDT
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This 1-3/4 pound specimen is a sample from a copper smelting furnace in McGill, Nevada, nearly Ely, where the purified molten copper appears to have been poured into a circular mold approx. five inches in diameter and solidified almost immediately, forming a kind of "splash" shape. The deep ruby-red coating on the top of the copper is a form of copper oxide called cuprite. A small spot of greenish malachite or other green copper oxide appears on a half-dollar-size portion of the top. The top surface also shows a characteristic "blister copper" pattern that forms as oxygen absorbed by the molten copper rapidly escapes during solidification. Copper smelters generally receive a powdered copper-iron-sulfide concentrate of an ore mineral called chalcopyrite that contains about 34 percent copper. The smelter drives off the iron and sulfur to produce copper metal nearly 99 percent pure. Samples such as these may have been used by the smelter's assay lab to determine the purity of copper coming from the furnace. It is marked 5301 on the edge and 2 on the bottom. The smelter in McGill began operating in 1908 and was acquired by Kennecott Utah Copper Company in 1932. They operated it until 1983, and it has since been demolished. State: City: Date: