Much is made of other, more obscure metals, from battery materials like cobalt and nickel to rare earth metals like neodymium, yet no other substance can match copper for its sheer elemental importance. Few other metals have quite the same combination of functions: its ability to conduct heat and electricity through its atomic matrix; its natural ductility, which allows it to be rolled and pulled and twisted into wires without snapping; its strength, its resistance to corrosion and its suitability for recycling.[4]
