The precious ore for the Olympics medals has been supplied by London 2012 sponsor Rio Tinto and was mined at Kennecott Utah Copper Mine near Salt Lake City in America, as well as from the Oyu Tolgoi project in Mongolia.
The Rio Tinto official webpage provides an interactive explanation on every process involved from Mine to Medals.
Some processes involve Chemical Reactions :
- Extraction
- Smelting
- Refining(Purification)
More details, visit http://www.riotinto.com/fromminetomedal/