How much copper has been found in the world?

To date, roughly 700 million metric tons of copper have been produced around the world. This would fit into a cube measuring about 430 meters on a side.

Identified deposits contain an estimated 2.1 billion metric tons of additional copper, which brings the total amount of discovered copper to 2.8 billion metric tons. This would fit into a cube measuring 680 meters on a side. It is also estimated that undiscovered resources contain about 3.5 billion metric tons of copper, which would mean that there are roughly 6.3 billion metric tons of copper on Earth. This would fit into a cube measuring about 890 meters on a side.

Of the identified copper that has yet to be taken out of the ground, about 65% is found in just five countries on Earth -- Chile, Australia, Peru, Mexico, and the United States.

Learn more:

• USGS commodity website for copper
• Copper: a metal for the ages