Associated copper minerals include the sulfides bornite (Cu5FeS4), chalcocite (Cu2S), covellite (CuS), digenite (Cu9S5); carbonates such as malachite and azurite, and rarely oxides such as cuprite (Cu2O).

Minor amounts of elements such as silver, gold, cadmium, cobalt, nickel, lead, tin, and zinc can be measured (at parts per million levels), likely substituting for copper and iron.

Chalcopyrite is an accessory mineral in Kambalda type komatiitic nickel ore deposits, formed from an immiscible sulfide liquid in sulfide-saturated ultramafic lavas.

Chalcopyrite ore occurs in a variety of ore types, from huge masses as at Timmins, Ontario, to irregular veins and disseminations associated with granitic to dioritic intrusives as in the porphyry copper deposits of Broken Hill, the American Cordillera and the Andes.

The largest deposit of nearly pure chalcopyrite ever discovered in Canada was at the southern end of the Temagami Greenstone Belt where Copperfields Mine extracted the high-grade copper.

Chalcopyrite may also be found in coal seams associated with pyrite nodules, and as disseminations in carbonate sedimentary rocks.

The most common and commercially viable[11] method, pyrometallurgy, involves "crushing, grinding, flotation, smelting, refining, and electro-refining" techniques.

This is because the ore is primarily composed of non-economically valuable material, or waste rock, with low concentrations of copper.

The abundance of waste material results in a lot of hydrocarbon fuel being required to heat and melt the ore. Alternatively, copper is isolated from the ore first using a technique called froth flotation.

Essentially, reagents are used to make the copper water-repellent, thus the Cu is able to concentrate in a flotation cell by floating on air bubbles.

In terms of byproducts, matte smelting copper can produce SO2 gas which is harmful to the environment, thus it is captured in the form of sulfuric acid.

Example reactions are as follows:[23] Converting involves oxidizing the matte once more to further remove sulfur and iron; however, the product is 99% molten copper.

The concentrate from matte smelting is poured into a converter that is then rotated, supplying the slag with oxygen through tuyeres.

[25] This is because of the extracting challenges which arise from the 1:1 presence of iron to copper,[26] resulting in slow leaching kinetics.

[25] Elevated temperatures and pressures create an abundance of oxygen in solution, which facilitates faster reaction speeds in terms of breaking down chalcopyrite's crystal lattice.