Ilhan Omar is dumber than a bag of hammers!

[Gun Nut]

Most pennies these days are 97.5% zinc and only 2.5% copper. Just an fyi.

if you want to get copper from a penny, you will need to find one from prior to 1982.

 

[Jarhyn]

Most pennies these days are 97.5% zinc and only 2.5% copper. Just an fyi.

if you want to get copper from a penny, you will need to find one from prior to 1982.

It's still 3-4 times the amount of copper found in most ore (.7%)

Of course not counting all the pennies before '84, of which there will be a fair amount in any given handful.

 

[Derec]

It's still 3-4 times the amount of copper found in most ore (.7%)

Of course not counting all the pennies before '84, of which there will be a fair amount in any given handful.

The reason your scheme will not work is not the purity. Of course a manufactured metal item will have more purity than the ore. Ore also has to be reduced. as the metal are present as cations.

The reason your scheme will not work is that smelting all the nickels and pennies will not yield you that much copper compared to the amount mined each and every year. See post #8 where I explained it to you in some detail.

Also, it is 1982, not 1984. And those account for at most 20% of pennies in circulation currently.