Copper

Copper is an important metal. It is important as every item either has copper in it or has been touched by something that has copper in it. For example, some coinage in The Old World contained copper while clothes are produced by machines that have copper in them.
Copper had its own age in continental Europe which was ceremonial in nature. When it got to the British isles the Bronze Age was already ongoing. The Bronze Age saw the metal’s applications increase as the metal was mixed with tin to make bronze for weapons which were much more usual than the ceremonial copper items.

Occurrence

The metal can be found in its native form but is more commonly found in ores. These can be in various colours, which can be green, blue or yellowish-brown. The green ores are more commonly found because of the connection between the colour of the ore and the metal, the famous mineral that contains copper is Malachite which can be found on its own or embedded into Lapis Lazuli.

Azuirite by Didier Descouens

Unpolished Malachite by Jon Zander

Enargite by Kelly Nash

Importance

During The Old World, copper was in limited availability and was at risk of being exhausted in the future. The nearest mines to Birdencaster are in Llandudno in North Wales and Cornwall. These mines were of the danger of becoming exhausted even before the establishment of Birdencaster. The solution was to start salvaging existing and unmanageable technologies across the UK.
Wind farms were salvaged across the UK, resulting in a renaissance of Redsmithing, a previous endangered craft in the UK. It also resulted in offshore wind farms being left with concrete pillars and those that were inland, having their towers mined for their concrete and steel from their fixtures.
What was left in these areas are the foundations. People walking along the coastlines in Rottingdean can still see what remained of the Rampion Wind Farm. The wind turbines that were mined for their concrete are used in road repair and in foundations to buildings.

Type
Metal

Article Contents

Further Resources

A Wikipedia Article on Copper
A Wikipedia Article on Llandudno
A Wikipedia Article on Cornwall
A Wikipedia Article on Rottingdean
Rampion Wind Farm
Heritage Crafts Association
IPA Reader

References

[1]Ancient Mines in Wales
[2]Chemical Elements that are in Danger of being Exhausted

Picture References

Picture of Azuirite - Wikimedia Commons
Picture was Taken by Didier Descouens Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported

Picture of Malachite - Wikimedia Commons
Picture was Taken by Jon Zander Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported

Picture of Enargite - Wikimedia Commons
Picture was Taken by Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported

Acknowledgements

Siobhan The Writer
SiobhantheWriter's World Anvil Author Page
Twitch

WriterGreg
Twitch
WriterGreg’s Website
WriterGreg First Draft - Twitch VOD Replay Channel
WriterGreg - Primary Channel
WriterGreg’s World Anvil Author Page