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Extractive Metallurgy of Copper 6th

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Extractive Metallurgy of
COPPER
Sixth Edition

MARK E. SCHLESINGER
Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO,
United States

KATHRYN C. SOLE
Sole Consulting, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa; University
of Pretoria, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa

WILLIAM G. DAVENPORT
Emeritus Professor, Department of Materials Science and
Engineering, University of Arizona, Tuscon, AZ, United States

GERARDO R. F. ALVEAR FLORES


Adjunct Professor, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD,
Australia; Manager Technical Marketing, Rio Tinto Singapore
Holdings Pte Ltd., Singapore
Elsevier
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CONTENTS

Preface to the sixth edition xiii

1. Overview 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Oreerock differentiation in the mine 2
1.3 Extracting copper from coppereironesulfide ores 5
1.4 Hydrometallurgical extraction of copper 11
1.5 Melting and casting cathode copper 14
1.6 Recycle of copper and copper alloy scrap 14
1.7 Safety 16
1.8 Environment 16
1.9 Summary 17
References 18
Suggested reading 18
Further reading 18

2. Production and use 19


2.1 Properties and uses of copper 19
2.2 Global copper production 21
2.3 Copper minerals, mines, and cut-off grades 22
2.4 Locations of processing plants 25
2.5 Price of copper 27
2.6 Future outlook 28
2.7 Summary 30
References 30

3. Production of high copper concentratesdcomminution and flotation 31


3.1 Concentration flowsheet 31
3.2 The comminution process 33
3.3 Particle size control of flotation feed 42
3.4 Froth flotation fundamentals 46
3.5 Flotation chemicals 48
3.6 Flotation of Cu ores 52
3.7 Flotation cells 55

v
vi Contents

3.8 Flotation process control 59


3.9 Flotation product processing 62
3.10 Other flotation separations 63
3.11 Summary 63
References 64
Suggested reading 66

4. Pyrometallurgical processing of copper concentrates 67


4.1 Fundamental thermodynamic aspects associated with pyrometallurgical
copper processing 67
4.2 The Yazawa diagram and pyrometallurgical copper processing 69
4.3 Smelting: the first processing step 71
4.4 The copper converting process 83
4.5 The refining process 86
4.6 Minor elements 87
4.7 Summary 90
References 91
Suggested reading 93

5. Theory to practice: pyrometallurgical industrial processes 95


5.1 General considerations 95
5.2 Technology evolution since 1970 96
5.3 Copper making technology classification 103
5.4 Evolution to large-scale smelting 108
5.5 Chinese technology developments since 2000 111
5.6 Summary 113
References 113
Suggested readings 117

6. Flash smelting 119


6.1 Metso Outotec flash furnace 119
6.2 Peripheral equipment 127
6.3 Flash furnace operation 130
6.4 Control 131
6.5 Impurity behavior 133
6.6 Outotec flash smelting recent developments and future trends 134
6.7 Inco flash smelting 135
6.8 Inco flash furnace summary 138
6.9 Inco versus Outotec flash smelting 139
6.10 Summary 139
References 139
Further reading 141
Contents vii

7. Bath matte smelting processes 143


7.1 Submerged tuyere: Noranda and Teniente processes 144
7.2 Teniente smelting 151
7.3 Vanyukov submerged tuyere smelting 156
7.4 Top Submerged Lance 159
7.5 Chinese bath smelting technology developments: SKS-BBS process and
side-blow smelting 171
7.6 Concluding remarks 179
References 181
Suggested reading 183

8. Converting of copper matte 185


8.1 Introduction 185
8.2 Technology options for batch and continuous copper converting 188
8.3 Batch converting 191
8.4 Industrial PeirceeSmith converting operations 197
8.5 Batch converting of high matte grades 205
8.6 Oxygen enrichment of PeirceeSmith converter blast 207
8.7 Maximizing converter productivity 208
8.8 Recent improvements in PeirceeSmith converting 210
8.9 Alternatives to PeirceeSmith converting 211
8.10 Top submerged lance converting 219
8.11 Chinese continuous converting technologies 221
8.12 Summary 224
References 225
Suggested reading 229

9. Continuous copper making processes 231


9.1 Single-stage process: direct to blister flash process 232
9.2 Two-stage process: Dongying-Fangyuan process 244
9.3 The Mitsubishi process: introduction 247
9.4 Other developments for continuous processing of copper 257
9.5 Summary 260
References 262
Suggested reading 264
Further reading 264

10. Copper loss in slag 265


10.1 Copper in slags 265
10.2 Decreasing copper in slag I: minimizing slag generation 267
10.3 Decreasing copper in slag II: minimizing Cu concentration in slag 268
viii Contents

10.4 Decreasing copper in slag III: pyrometallurgical slag settling/reduction 268


10.5 Decreasing copper in slag IV: slag minerals processing 274
10.6 Summary 277
References 277

11. Capture and fixation of sulfur 281


11.1 Off-gases from smelting and converting processes 281
11.2 Sulfuric acid manufacture 284
11.3 Smelter off-gas treatment 284
11.4 Gas drying 289
11.5 Acid plant chemical reactions 290
11.6 Industrial sulfuric acid manufacture 294
11.7 Alternative sulfuric acid manufacturing methods 303
11.8 Recent and future developments in sulfuric acid manufacture 305
11.9 Alternative sulfur products 307
11.10 Summary 308
References 308
Suggested reading 311
Further reading 311

12. Fire refining (S and O removal) and anode casting 313


12.1 Industrial methods of fire refining 313
12.2 Chemistry of fire refining 318
12.3 Choice of hydrocarbon for deoxidation 319
12.4 Minor metals removal 320
12.5 Casting anodes 322
12.6 Continuous anode casting 324
12.7 New anodes from rejects and anode scrap 326
12.8 Summary 326
References 327
Suggested reading 328

13. Electrolytic refining 331


13.1 The electrorefining process 331
13.2 Chemistry of electrorefining and behavior of anode impurities 333
13.3 Equipment 337
13.4 Typical refining cycle 341
13.5 Electrolyte 342
13.6 Maximizing cathode copper purity 346
13.7 Minimizing energy consumption and maximizing current efficiency 348
Contents ix

13.8 Treatment of electrolyte bleed 349


13.9 Treatment of slimes 350
13.10 Industrial electrorefining 350
13.11 Recent developments and emerging trends in copper electrorefining 350
13.12 Summary 354
References 355
Suggested reading 359

14. Hydrometallurgical copper extraction: introduction and leaching 361


14.1 Copper recovery by hydrometallurgical flowsheets 361
14.2 Chemistry of the leaching of copper minerals 362
14.3 Leaching methods 364
14.4 Heap leaching 366
14.5 Dump leaching 382
14.6 Vat leaching 383
14.7 Agitation leaching 386
14.8 Pressure oxidation leaching 391
14.9 In situ leaching 396
14.10 Hydrometallurgical processing of chalcopyrite concentrates 396
14.11 Future developments 397
14.12 Summary 398
References 401
Suggested reading 406

15. Solvent extraction 407


15.1 The solvent extraction process 407
15.2 Chemistry of copper solvent extraction 408
15.3 Composition of the organic phase 409
15.4 Equipment 412
15.5 Circuit configurations 414
15.6 Quantitative design of a series circuit 417
15.7 Quantitative comparison of series and series parallel circuits 420
15.8 Minimizing impurity transfer and maximizing electrolyte purity 421
15.9 Operational considerations 424
15.10 Industrial solvent extraction plants 427
15.11 Safety in solvent extraction plants 427
15.12 Current and future developments 432
15.13 Summary 433
References 433
Suggested reading 436
x Contents

16. Electrowinning 437


16.1 The electrowinning process 437
16.2 Chemistry of copper electrowinning 437
16.3 Electrical requirements 438
16.4 Equipment 439
16.5 Operational practice 443
16.6 Maximizing copper quality 451
16.7 Maximizing energy efficiency 453
16.8 Modern industrial electrowinning plants 454
16.9 Direct electrowinning from agitated leach solutions 455
16.10 Copper electrowinning in EMEW cells 459
16.11 Safety in electrowinning tankhouses 460
16.12 Future developments 460
16.13 Summary 461
References 461
Suggested reading 465

17. Collection and processing of recycled copper 467


17.1 The materials cycle 467
17.2 Secondary copper grades and definitions 470
17.3 Scrap processing and beneficiation 474
17.4 Summary 481
References 481

18. Chemical metallurgy of copper recycling 483


18.1 Characteristics of secondary copper 483
18.2 Scrap processing in primary copper smelters 484
18.3 The secondary copper smelter 485
18.4 Summary 489
References 490

19. Melting and casting 493


19.1 Product grades and quality 493
19.2 Melting technology 496
19.3 Casting machines 499
19.4 Summary 506
References 507
Suggested reading 509
Contents xi

20. Byproduct and waste streams 511


20.1 Molybdenite recovery and processing 511
20.2 Anode slimes 514
20.3 Dust treatment 517
20.4 Use or disposal of slag 519
20.5 Summary 521
References 521

21. Costs of copper production 525


21.1 Overall investment costs: mine through refinery 526
21.2 Overall direct operating costs: mine through refinery 528
21.3 Total production costs, selling prices, profitability 529
21.4 Concentrating costs 529
21.5 Smelting costs 530
21.6 Electrorefining costs 533
21.7 Production of copper from scrap 533
21.8 Leach/solvent extraction/electrowinning costs 534
21.9 Profitability 536
21.10 Summary 536
References 536

22. Toward a sustainable copper processing 539


22.1 Resource complexity and flowsheet solutions 539
22.2 Multimetal flowsheet integration 540
22.3 Concluding remarks 551
References 552
Suggested readings 553

Index 555
This page intentionally left blank
Preface to the sixth edition

When we began this revision in 2019, the price of copper was $2.60/lb. As we com-
plete it today, the price is $4.38/lb. By the time you read these words, it may be back
down to $2.60 again! Regardless, it has been some time since there was so much interest
in the availability and technology of copper supply. The long-term prospects for the
industry appear to be bright, and prospectors are scouring the globe for ore, from
mountaintops in the Andes to the bottom of the oceans. The lists of top-producing mines
and smelters in this book demonstrate the increase in capacity of the industry from our
previous edition.
Technology advances in the industry over the previous decade have been largely
evolutionary rather than revolutionary. The most significant developments include the
following:
• the adoption of Chinese bottom-blown and side-blown bath smelting and converting
technology;
• the creation of flowsheets for handling increasingly complex ores and concentrates;
• improved technology for processing high-strength off-gases;
• higher current densities in electrorefining and electrowinning practice.
Other things have not changed. The PeirceeSmith converter is still the primary
means of producing blister copper; flash furnaces are still being commissioned for
concentrate smelting, and casting processes are still largely the same. Some technologies
have more value than previously thought!
There has also been a change in the creative team behind this book. Matt King has
decided to find other uses for his nights and weekends; in his place, we welcome to
the group Dr. Gerardo Alvear Flores, currently based in Singapore. Gerardo has vast
experience in the copper industry, which has taken him over his career to multiple con-
tinents and production facilities, and his experience will enhance our efforts and improve
our direction.
As with previous efforts, this edition of Extractive Metallurgy of Copper is largely a
product of the copper industry as a whole, since so many engineers and scientists
volunteered their time and expertise (along with photographs and drawings) to make
sure we got it right. Our guides included
Ken Armstrong (Chemetics)
Nigel Aslin (Glencore)
Martin Bakker (Glencore)
Michele Beacom (CIM)
Juan Carrasco (Glencore)

xiii
xiv Preface to the sixth edition

Chunlin Chen (CSIRO)


Peter Cole (deceased) (Peter Cole Metallurgical Services)
Bernadette Currie (Rio Tinto)
Julio Flores Cantillanez (Mantos Copper)
Magnus Ek (Boliden)
Jeremy Gillis (PASAR)
Cameron Harris (Canadian Engineering Associates)
David Hazelett (Hazelett Corporation)
Enrique Herrera (Southern Peru Copper)
Shawn Hinsberger (Heath and Sherwood)
Mike Hourn (Glencore)
Chris Holding (Copper Worldwide)
John Hugens
John Hugens, Jr. (Hugens Metallurgy)
Evgeni Jak (University of Queensland)
Hugo Joubert (Tenova Pyromet)
Akira Kaneda (Mitsubishi Materials)
Matt King (Worley Parsons)
Michael Marinigh (Heath and Sherwood)
Leopoldo Mariscal (Mexicana de Cobre)
Jorge Meza (Southern Peru Copper)
Yoshihiro Mine (Mitsui Mining & Smelting)
Enrique Miranda (IIMCH)
Michael Moats (Missouri University of Science and Technology)
Anthony Mukutuma (First Quantum Minerals)
Kensaku Nakamura (JX Nippon Mining and Metals)
Takeshi Nakamura (Tohoku University)
Stanko Nikolic (Glencore)
Yerzhan Ospanov (Kazakhmys)
Lauri Palmu (Metso Outotec)
John Parker (Process Ideas)
Joe Pease (Minerales)
Beatrice Pierre (Glencore)
Nikola Popovic (Glencore)
Yves Prevost (Glencore)
Venkoba Ramachandran
Pedro Reyes (Anglo American)
Carlos Risopatron (International Copper Study Group)
Joanne Roberts (Freeport McMoRan)
Tim Robinson (Metso Outotec)
Preface to the sixth edition xv

Gerardo Sanchez (Codelco)


Maxsym Shevchenko (University of Queensland)
Etsuro Shibata (Tohoku University)
Denis Shishin (University of Queensland)
Alfred Spanring (RHI AG)
Andreas Specht (Aurubis)
Hitoshi Takano (Sumitomo)
Supriya Upadhyay (Rio Tinto)
Maurits Van Camp (Umicore Precious Metals Recycling)
Nicole Witaslawsky (International Copper Association)
Yutaka Yasuda (JX Nippon Metals and Mining)
Gabriel Zarate (Jetti Cobre)
CHAPTER 1

Overview
1.1 Introduction
Copper is most commonly present in the earth’s crust as coppereironesulfide and
copper sulfide minerals, primarily chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) and chalcocite (CuS2). The
concentration of these minerals in a mine is low. Typical copper ores contain from
0.3% Cu (open pit mines, Fig. 1.1) to 1.7% Cu (underground mines, Fig. 1.2). The
rest is noneconomic rock. Pure copper metal is mostly produced from these ores by
concentration, smelting, and refining (Fig. 1.3).
Copper also occurs to a lesser extent in oxidized minerals (carbonates, oxides,
hydroxysilicates, sulfates). Copper metal is usually produced from these minerals by
leaching, solvent extraction, and electrowinning (Fig. 1.4). These processes are also
used to treat chalcocite (Cu2S).

Figure 1.1 Open pit Cu mine. Note the new blast holes, top right, and blasted ore to the left of them.
The shovel is placing blasted ore in the truck from where it will go to processing. The water truck is
suppressing dust. The front-end loader is cleaning up around the shovel. The shovel is electric. Its insu-
lated power wire mostly lies on the surface except over the wire bridge under which all vehicles travel
to and from the shovel. (Photograph courtesy of FreeporteMcMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.).

Extractive Metallurgy of Copper, Sixth Edition © 2022 Elsevier Ltd.


ISBN 978-0-12-821875-4, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-821875-4.00017-1 All rights reserved. 1
2 Extractive Metallurgy of Copper

Figure 1.2 Underground mining operation. Underground mine showing wheeled mining machine.
The drills on the right end of the vehicle are drilling up into the ore body. The drilled holes are
subsequently filled with explosive which, when detonated, break the ore and drop the ore pieces
onto the mine floor. The ore pieces are then elevated to the mine surface where they are crushed
and sent to processing. A new mine in Arizona contains w1.5% Cu, 0.04% Mo in chalcopyrite and
molybdenite minerals. w120 kilotonnes per day of this ore will be mined w2300 m below ground
level. About one-fourth of the world’s mined copper is obtained by underground mining; the
remainder is by surface mining. (Purchased from Roslyn Budd: www.buddphotography.com.au).

A third major source of copper is scrap copper and copper alloys. Yearly production of
copper from recycled used objects is 15%e20% of mine production. In addition, there
is considerable remelting and refining of scrap generated during fabrication and manu-
facture. Total copper production in 2018 (mined and from end-of-use scrap) was 25
million tonnes.
This chapter introduces the principal processes by which pure copper is extracted
from ore and scrap. It also indicates the relative industrial importance of each. Finally,
it discusses worker safetydbecause it is so important.

1.2 Oreerock differentiation in the mine


A mine consists of regions of economic ore and regions of noneconomic rock, e.g.,
quartz and feldspar (Berger et al., 2008). These regions are located by drilling, sampling,
and analyzing the drill core for Cu. Where possible the noneconomic rock is not mined.
When the mine can only be developed by mining intertwined ore and rock, the ore is
sent to copper production and the rock goes to waste heaps. The material at the ore/rock
boundary is carefully sampled and analyzed to ensure that ore is not mistakenly sent to
the waste rock heaps.
Overview 3

Sulfide ores (0.5 - 2.0% Cu)

Comminution

Flotation

Concentrates (20 - 30% Cu)

Drying Drying

Other smelting
processes*
Submerged tuyere
smelting Flash smelting Vertical lance Direct-to-copper
smelting smelting

Matte (50-70%Cu)

Converting

Blister Cu (99% Cu)

Anode refining
and casting

Anodes (99.5% Cu)

Electrorefining

Cathodes (99.99% Cu)

Melting

Molten copper

Continuous casting

Fabrication and use


Figure 1.3 Main processes for extracting copper from sulfide ores. Parallel lines indicate alternative
processes. *Principally Mitsubishi and Vanyukov smelting. —————and various small Chinese
processes.
4 Extractive Metallurgy of Copper

H2SO4 leach solution, recycle from


3
solvent extraction, ~0.4 kg Cu/m

Make-up H2SO4

3 3
~10 kg H2SO4/m , ~0.4 kg Cu/m

Ore 'heap'

Collection dam

3
pregnant leach solution, 2 to 5 kg Cu/m

Solvent
extraction

3
Electrolyte, 45 kg Cu/m

Electrowinning

Stripped cathode plates, 99.99% Cu

Melting

molten copper

Continuous casting

Fabrication and use


Figure 1.4 Flowsheet for leaching oxide and Cu2S ores. The dissolved Cu is recovered by solvent
extraction purification followed by electrowinning. Leaching accounts for w20% of primary (from
ore) copper production.
Overview 5

1.3 Extracting copper from coppereironesulfide ores


About 80% of the world’s mined copper originates in chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) ores.
Chalcopyrite is extremely difficult to dissolve in aqueous solutions, so the vast majority
of copper extraction from these ores is pyrometallurgical. Extraction by this approach
entails
(a) isolating the ore’s CueFeeS and CueS mineral particles in a concentrate by froth
flotation
(b) smelting this concentrate to molten high-Cu sulfide matte
(c) converting (oxidizing) this molten matte to impure molten blister copper
(d) fire- and electrorefining this impure copper to ultrapure copper.
Increasingly, smelting and converting are being combined, especially in China.

1.3.1 Concentration by froth flotation


Copper ores being mined in 2020 are far too dilute in Cu (0.3%e1.7%) to be smelted
directly. Heating and melting their huge quantity of waste rock would require
prohibitive amounts of fuel. The rock would also produce impossibly large amounts
of molten oxide slag. Fortunately, the ore’s CueFeeS and CueS minerals can be
isolated by physical means into high-Cu concentrate, which can then be smelted
economically.
The most effective method of isolating the Cu minerals is froth flotation. This process
causes small CueFeeS and CueS mineral particles to become attached to air bubbles
rising through a finely ground ore slurry (Fig. 1.5). Selectivity of flotation is created by
Froth, concentrated
in copper minerals,
30% Cu

Reagent
Addition

Sulfide ore-
water mixture,
0.5% Cu
Tailing: low in
Cu minerals,
0.05% Cu

Air Bubble Dispersion System

Figure 1.5 Schematic view of flotation cell. Reagents cause CueFe sulfide and Cu sulfide minerals in
the ore to attach to rising air bubbles, which are then collected in a short-lived froth. This froth is
dewatered to become concentrate. The unfloated waste passes through several cells before being dis-
carded as a final tailing. Many types and sizes (up to 300 m3) of cell are used (Chapter 3).
6 Extractive Metallurgy of Copper

using chemical reagents (collectors) that make the Cu minerals water-repellent while
leaving waste minerals covered by water (i.e., wetted).
This water repellency causes Cu mineral particles to attach to the flotation cell’s rising
bubbles while the other mineral particles remain unfloated. The floated minerals overflow
the cell in a froth that, when dewatered, becomes w25% Cu concentrate. The low-Cu
waste rock particles underflow the cell. They are dewatered and sent to tailing ponds.
Flotation is preceded by crushing and grinding the mined Cu ore to small (w100 mm
diameter) particles. Its use has led to adoption of smelting processes that efficiently smelt
finely ground solids.
A video of mining and mineral processing may be seen in The Mining Process at Copper
Mountain Mine. This mine produces 30,000 tonnes of ore and 160,000 tonnes of waste
rock per day.

1.3.2 Matte smelting


Matte smelting oxidizes and melts flotation concentrate in a large, hot (1250 C)
furnace (Figs. 1.3 and 1.6). The objective of the smelting is to oxidize S and Fe from
the CueFeeS concentrate to produce an intermediate Cu-enriched molten sulfide
matte. The oxidant is oxygen-enriched air. Example reactions are
30 °C 1220 °C

2 CuFeS2(s) + 3.25 O2(g) → Cu2S-0.5FeS( ) + 1.5 FeO(s) + 2.5 SO2(g)


(1.1)
in concentrate in oxygen–enriched molten matte iron oxide in offgas
air

Figure 1.6 Metso Outokumpu oxygen-enriched air flash furnace. Flash furnaces are typically 20 m
long and 7 m wide. They smelt 1000e3000 tonnes of concentrate per day.
Overview 7

Simultaneously, the iron oxide is fluxed with quartz to give a low melting point
molten slag. A representative reaction is

1220 °C 30 °C 1250 °C

1.5 FeO(s) + 0.75 SiO2(s) + heat → 0.75 Fe2SiO4( ) (1.2)


iron oxide in rock and molten slag
quartz flux

The concentrate’s gangue (waste rock) minerals also dissolve in the molten slag.
Reactions (1.1) and (1.2) are both exothermic; they supply most of the smelting
process’s heat requirement.
The products of smelting are (a) molten sulfide matte (55%e70% Cu) containing
most of the Cu in the concentrate and (b) molten oxide slag with as little Cu as possible.
The molten matte is subsequently converted (oxidized) in a converting furnace to form
impure molten copper. The slag is treated for Cu recovery, then discarded or sold
(Chapter 10).
SO2-bearing offgas (10e60 volume% SO2, remainder mostly N2) is also produced.
SO2 is harmful to flora and fauna, so it must be removed before the offgas is released
to the atmosphere. This is done by capturing the SO2 as sulfuric acid (Chapter 11).
Matte smelting is mostly done in flash furnaces (Fig. 1.6). It is also done in top lance
and submerged tuyere furnaces (Chapter 6). Three smelters smelt Cu-rich concentrate
directly to molten copper (Chapter 10). This is unusual because single-furnace smelting
with normal (25% Cu) concentrate produces too much high-Cu slag.

1.3.3 Converting
Copper converting is oxidizing the intermediate molten matte from smelting with air or
oxygen-enriched air. It removes Fe and S from the matte to produce crude (99% Cu)
molten copper. This molten copper is subsequently sent to fire- and electrorefining.
Most converting is done in cylindrical PeirceeSmith converters (Fig. 1.7a), but newer
continuous converting processes are eating into this dominance (Chapter 8).

1.3.3.1 PeirceeSmith converting


PeirceeSmith converting entails pouring large ladles of molten smelting furnace matte
(1220 C) into a cylindrical converter through a large central mouth (Fig. 1.7b). The
oxidizing oxygen-enriched air blast is then started and the converter is rolled, forcing
the blast into the molten matte through a row of tuyeres along the length of the vessel.
The heat generated in the converter by Fe and S oxidation is sufficient to make the
process autothermal.
8 Extractive Metallurgy of Copper

Figure 1.7a PeirceeSmith converter for producing molten “blister” copper from molten CueFeeS
matte. Typical production rates are 200e600 tonnes of copper per day. Oxygen-enriched air or air
“blast” is blown into the matte through submerged tuyeres. Silica flux is added through the converter
mouth or by air gun through an endwall. Offgas is collected by means of a hood above the converter
mouth. (From Chapter 2.1 - Copper Production in Treatise on Process Metallurgy, Volume 3: Industrial
Processes, 1st Edition, Copyright Elsevier 2013 Pages 534e624).

Figure 1.7b Positions of PeirceeSmith converter for charging, blowing, and skimming. SO2 offgas
escapes the system unless the hooding is tight. A converter is typically 4 or 4.5 m diameter. (Credit:
Used with permission from Mettop, https://mettop.com/api/cdn/uploads/1493364462_7v372frw.pdf
Figure 4).

The converting takes place in two sequential stages:


(a) the FeS elimination or slag-forming stage:

1220 °C 30 °C 30 °C 1200 °C 1200 °C

2 FeS( ) + 3 O2(g) + SiO2(s) → Fe2SiO4( ) + 2 SO2(g) + heat (1.3)


in molten matte in air blast in quartz flux molten slag in offgas
Overview 9

(b) the copper-making stage:

1200 °C 30 °C 1200 °C 1200 °C

Cu2S( ) + O2(g) → 2 Cu( ) + SO2(g) + heat


(1.4)
molten matte in air blast impure molten in offgas

'blister' copper

Copper making (b) occurs only after the matte contains less than about 1% Fe, so that
most of the Fe can be removed from the converter (in slag) before copper production
begins. Likewise, significant oxidation of copper does not occur until the sulfur content
of the copper falls below w0.02%. Blowing is terminated near this sulfur end point. The
resulting molten blister copper (1200 C) is poured out and sent to refining, whereupon
the converter is refilled with molten matte and the process starts again.
Because conditions in the converter are strongly oxidizing and agitated, Peircee
Smith converter slag inevitably contains 4%e8% Cu. This Cu is recovered by settling
and/or ambient temperature froth flotation. The resulting low-Cu slag is then discarded
or sold (Chapters 10 and 20).
SO2, 8e12 vol.% in the converter offgas, is a byproduct of both converting reactions.
It is combined with smelting furnace gas and captured as sulfuric acid. There is, however,
some leakage of SO2(g) into the atmosphere during charging and pouring. This problem
is encouraging development of continuous converting processes. The most prominent of
these is flash converting (Chapter 8).

1.3.4 Direct-to-copper smelting


Smelting and converting are sequential steps in oxidizing CueFeeS concentrates to
metallic copper. It would seem natural that these two steps should be combined to
produce blister copper directly in one furnace. It would also seem natural that this should
be done continuously rather than batchwise.
In 2020, blister copper is made in a single furnace at only three placesdOlympic Dam,
Australia; Glogow, Poland; and Chingola, Zambiadall using a flash furnace. The strong
oxidizing conditions in a direct-to-copper furnace produce a slag with 14%e24%
oxidized Cu. The expense of reducing this dissolved Cu back to copper metal has so
far restricted the process to low-Fe concentrates, which produce little slag.
Continuous smelting/converting, even in more than one furnace, has energy, SO2
collection, and cost advantages. Metso Outotec flash, Mitsubishi lance, and Noranda sub-
merged-tuyere smelting/converting all use this approach, described in Chapter 6 through
Chapter 8.
10 Extractive Metallurgy of Copper

1.3.5 Fire refining and electrorefining of blister copper


The blister copper from the above processing is electrochemically refined to high-purity
cathode copper. This final copper contains less than 20 ppm undesirable impurities. It is
suitable for electrical and almost all other uses.
Electrorefining requires strong, thin, flat anodes to interleave with cathodes in an
electrorefining cell, Fig. 1.8. These anodes are produced by (a) sequential air oxidation
then natural gas reduction of blister copper then (b) casting the resulting fire-refined copper
in open, anode-shape molds (Figs. 12.2 and 12.3.).
Copper electrorefining entails
(a) electrochemically dissolving copper from fire-refined anodes into
CuSO4eH2SO4eH2O electrolyte
(b) electrochemically plating pure copper (without the anode impurities) from the elec-
trolyte onto stainless-steel cathodes by passing DC electrical current through the
electrolyte between anodes and cathodes.
Copper is deposited on the cathodes for 7e14 days. The cathodes are then removed
from the cell. The copper is stripped, washed, and (a) sold or (b) melted and cast into use-
ful products.
The electrolyte is an aqueous solution of H2SO4 (150e200 kg/m3) and CuSO4
(40e50 kg Cu/m3). In use, it also contains impurities and trace amounts of chloride
and organic addition agents, Section 14.5.1.

Figure 1.8 Casting of anodes for electrorefining. (Photo courtesy of Miguel Palacios.).
Overview 11

Many anode impurities are insoluble in this electrolyte (Au, Pb, Pt metals, Sn). They
do not interfere with the electrorefining. They are collected as solid slimes and treated for
Cu and byproduct recovery, Chapter 20.
Other impurities, such as As, Bi, Fe, Ni, and Sb, are partially or fully soluble.
Fortunately, they do not plate with the copper at the low voltage of the electrorefining
cell (w0.3 V). They must, however, be kept from accumulating in the electrolyte to
avoid physical contamination of the cathode copper. This is done by continuously
bleeding part of the electrolyte through a purification circuit.
An older form of the process is to plate cathode copper onto thin pure copper sheets.
In this case the entire cathode is lifted from the cell, washed, and sent to users.

1.4 Hydrometallurgical extraction of copper


About 80% of copper from ore is produced by flotation, smelting, and refining. The
remaining 20% is produced hydrometallurgically. Hydrometallurgical extraction entails
(Fig. 1.3)
(a) sulfuric acid leaching of Cu from broken or crushed ore to produce impure
Cu-bearing aqueous solution
(b) transfer of Cu from the resulting weak, impure solution to pure, high-Cu-strength
electrolyte via solvent extraction
(c) electrodepositing pure cathode copper sheets from this pure electrolyte
The ores most commonly treated this way are (a) naturally oxidized Cu minerals,
including carbonates, hydroxy-silicates, sulfates, and (b) chalcocite, Cu2S.
The leaching is mostly done by dripping dilute sulfuric acid (w10 kg H2SO4 per m3
of solution) onto a layer of broken or crushed ore (0.3%e2.3% Cu) and allowing the acid
to trickle through to collection ponds, Figs. 1.4 and 1.5. Several months of leaching are
required for efficient Cu extraction from the ore.
After this first extraction another layer of ore is placed on top of the leached layer and
the process is repeated and so on.
Oxidized minerals are dissolved by the sulfuric acid by reactions like
CuO(s) + H2SO4( ) → Cu2+(aq) + SO2–
4 (aq) + H2O( )
(1.5)
in ore in 30 °C sulfuric acid aqueous pregnant leach solution

Sulfide minerals, on the other hand, require oxidation, schematically:


bacterial enzyme catalyst

Cu2S(s) + 2.5O2(g) + H2SO4( ) → 2Cu2+(aq) + 2 SO2–


4 (aq) + H2O( ) (1.6)
in ore in air in sulfuric acid 30 °C pregnant leach solution

As indicated, sulfide leaching is greatly speeded up by bacterial action (Chapter 15).


12 Extractive Metallurgy of Copper

Leaching is occasionally applied to Cu-bearing flotation tailings, mine wastes, old


mines, and fractured ore bodies. However, leaching of ore heaps is far and away the
largest hydrometallurgical Cu extraction technique.

1.4.1 Solvent extraction


The solutions from heap leaching contain w3 g/L of Cu and w3 g/L of H2SO4 plus
dissolved impurities, such as Fe and Mn. These solutions are too dilute in Cu and too
impure for direct electrodeposition of pure copper metal. The Cu must be transferred
to pure, high-Cu electrolyte to make pure copper.
The transfer is achieved by
(a) extracting Cu from an impure leach solution into a Cu-specific liquid organic
extractant
(b) separating by gravity the Cu-loaded extractant from the Cu-depleted leach solution
(c) stripping Cu from the loaded extractant into 180 g/L H2SO4 electrolyte.
Extraction and stripping are carried out in large mixer-settlers, Fig. 1.9.
The solvent extraction process is represented by the reaction:
30 °C

Cu2+(aq) + SO2–
4 + 2RH → R2Cu + 2H+ + SO2–
4
(1.7)
in pregnant leach solution in organic solvent in organic solvent in aqueous solution,

recycle to leach

20 m

Settler Cu-rich organic


extractant (to
electrolyte
Emulsion preparation)

Mixer Distributor
'fence'
Barren leach solution,
recycle to acid makeup
and leach, 0.3 kg Cu/m

Cu-pregnant
leach solution Barren organic
3 kg Cu/m extractant

Figure 1.9 Schematic view of solvent extraction mixer-settler for extracting Cu from pregnant leach
solution into organic extractant. The Cu-loaded organic phase goes forward to another mixer/setter
(“stripper”) where Cu is stripped from the organic into pure, strongly acidic, high-Cu electrolyte for
electrowinning. The process is continuous.
Overview 13

This shows that a low-acid (i.e., low H⁺) aqueous phase causes the organic extractant
to load with Cu (as R2Cu). It also shows that a strong acid solution causes the organic to
unload (i.e., strip).
Thus, when organic extractant is contacted with weak acid pregnant leach solution
[step (a) above], Cu is loaded into the organic phase. Then when the organic phase is
subsequently put into contact with high (w180 g/L) H2SO4 electrolyte [step
(c) above], the Cu is stripped from the organic into the electrolyte at high Cu2⁺ strength,
suitable for electrowinning.
The extractants complex with considerable Cu but almost no impurities. They pro-
duce electrolytes that are strong in Cu (w50 g/L) but dilute in impurities.
1.4.2 Electrowinning
The Cu in the above electrolytes is mostly recovered by electrodepositing pure metallic
copper onto stainless-steel cathodes, Fig. 1.10. Electrowinning is similar to electrorefin-
ing except that the anode is inert, almost always 99% Pb alloy.
The cathode reaction is 60 °C



(1.8)
in sulfate electrolyte electrons from pure metal deposit

external DC power supply on stainless steel cathode

Figure 1.10 Plates of electrowon copper on stainless-steel cathodes after removal from an electro-
winning cell. These cathodes are w1 m wide and 1.3 m deep. They are carefully washed to remove
electrolyte. The copper plates are then stripped off in automatic machines and sent to market.
They typically contain <20 parts per million impurities. Note the polymer side stripsdthey prevent
copper from plating around the edges. (Photograph courtesy of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc).
14 Extractive Metallurgy of Copper

The anode reaction is


60 °C

in electrolyte evolved on formed in electrolyte, electrons to (1.9)

inert anode recycle to solvent external DC

extraction power supply


As with electrorefining, the copper is plated on the cathode by passing DC current
through the electrolyte between anodes and cathodes. About 2 V is required.
Pure metallic copper (less than 20 ppm undesirable impurities) is plated on the
cathode. Oxygen gas is evolved at the anode.
A recent development is the use of precious metal-coated titanium cathodes, which
lowers electrowinning energy consumption.

1.5 Melting and casting cathode copper


The first steps in making products from electrorefined and electrowon copper are melting
and casting, Fig. 1.11. The melting is almost always done in vertical shaft furnaces,
Fig. 19.2. The copper cathode sheets are charged to the top of the furnace. They descend
into the furnace and are melted by ascending hot combustion gases. Low-sulfur fuels pre-
vent sulfur pickup. Reducing flames prevent excessive oxygen pickup.
The molten copper is mostly cast in continuous casting machines from where it goes
to rolling or extrusion then manufacturing. An especially important combination is
continuous bar casting/rod rolling, Chapter 19.

1.5.1 Types of copper product


The copper described above is Grade 1 copper. It contains w0.025% oxygen and the
cathode impurities. It is the most common type of primary copper product.
A second type is oxygen-free copper (<5 ppm O). It is used for highly demanding
applications, such as high-end audio equipment. It is made from cathode copper by
electric induction melting with added pure graphite for removing O as CO(g).
About 35% of copper is used in alloy form as brasses, bronzes, etc. Much of the copper
for these alloys comes from recycle scrap.

1.6 Recycle of copper and copper alloy scrap


Copper production from recycling copper and copper alloy end-of-life objects (old scrap)
amounts to 15%e20% of the above-described copper-from-mine production
(International Copper Study Group, 2020).
Overview 15

Contaminated Low - grade High quality High quality


copper scrap copper scrap copper alloy scrap copper scrap
(88 - 99% Cu) (10 - 88% Cu) brasses, bronzes, etc. (99+%Cu)

Black copper
(80+% Cu)

Rough copper
(95+%Cu) Induction or fuel-
fired furnace Shaft or
hearth furnace

Brasses, bronzes, etc.

Fire refining +
anode casting

Anodes (99.5% Cu)

Electrorefining

Cathodes

Melting

Molten copper, <20 ppm impurities Continuous casting


~250 ppm oxygen

Fabrication and Fabrication and use by


Continuous casting use pipe, tube + sheet
producers

Figure 1.11 Flowsheet of processes for recovering copper and copper alloys from scrap. Low-grade
scrap is usually smelted in shaft furnaces but other furnaces (e.g., electric) are also used.
Another random document with
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Finally I left for Paris.
To economise as closely as possible we had to travel third class.
But what did that matter? That was only a detail. I was going to Paris
to succeed there or to sink into obscurity.
V
MY APPEARANCE AT THE FOLIES-BERGÈRE

P ARIS! Paris! At last Paris!


It seemed to me that I was saved and that all my troubles
were coming to an end. Paris was the port after storm, the harbour of
refuge after the furious rage of life’s tempest. And I thought in my
simplicity that I was going to conquer this great Paris that I had so
long coveted.
In America I had often danced on important stages during the
intervals between operatic acts, and I fancied that it would be the
same in Paris.
Accordingly upon my arrival, which occurred in October, 1892,
even before going to my room at the Grand Hotel, I instructed my
agent, Mr. Marten Stein, to call upon M. Gailhard, manager of the
National Academy of Music and Dancing, to whom I had written from
Germany to propose my dancing at his theatre.
National Academy of Dancing!
I still believed, in my simple soul, in names. I fancied that an
institution of this sort ought to be receptive of innovations in dancing.
My illusion, alas! was to be short-lived. Mr. Stein returned looking
very downcast. He had been received by M. Pedro Gailhard, but that
gentleman, in the deep voice which he has skilfully developed and
which for twenty-one years has awakened the echoes of the
directors’ office at the Opera, did not conceal from him the fact that
he had no great desire to engage me.
“Let her show me her dances if she cares to,” he said, “but all I
can do, in case these dances please me, would be, on condition of
her performing nowhere else, to guarantee her a maximum of four
performances a month.”
“Four performances? That is hardly enough,” my agent ventured
to remark.
“It is too many for a dancer who before coming to Paris already
has imitators here.”
Influenced by the voice and bearing of a man who had formerly
played the part of Mephistopheles on the stage which he now
directed, Mr. Stein did not dare to make further inquiries.
The impression made upon me by the terms that my agent
brought back is easily imagined. To accept four appearances a
month, even if M. Gailhard actually made a proposition to that effect,
was not to be thought of. That, from a pecuniary standpoint, was
altogether insufficient. I thought the matter over. My mind was
quickly made up. After dinner I bundled my agent and my mother into
a carriage and gave the driver the address of the Folies-Bergère, for
I knew that my agent, on his own responsibility, had written to the
manager of this big music hall. On the way I explained to Mr. Stein
that I was governing myself by the advice that he had given me
sometime before, and that I was going to ask the manager of the
Folies-Bergère for an engagement.
Imagine my astonishment when, in getting out of the carriage in
front of the Folies, I found myself face to face with a “serpentine
dancer” reproduced in violent tones on some huge placards. This
dancer was not Loie Fuller.
Here was the cataclysm, my utter annihilation.
Nevertheless I went into the theatre. I stated the object of my
visit. I asked to see the manager. They told me that I could be
received only at the close of the performance, and they assigned us,
my mother, Mr. Stein and myself, seats in one corner of the balcony,
whence we were able to follow the performance.
The performance!
I could not help poking a little fun at that performance. It would be
hard to describe what I saw that evening. I awaited the “serpentine
dancer,” my rival, my robber—for she was a robber, was she not, she
who was stealing not only my dances but all my beautiful dreams?
Finally she came out. I trembled all over. Cold perspiration
appeared on my temples. I shut my eyes. When I reopened them I
saw there on the stage one of my contemporaries who, some time
before, in the United States, having borrowed money from me had
neglected to repay it. She had kept right on borrowing, that was all.
But this time I had made up my mind to force her to give back what
she had taken from me.
Presently I ceased to want to do anything of the sort. Instead of
further upsetting me the sight of her soothed me. The longer she
danced the calmer I became. And when she had finished her “turn,” I
began to applaud sincerely and with great joy.
It was not admiration that elicited my applause but an entirely
opposite feeling. My imitator was so ordinary that, sure of my own
superiority, I no longer dreaded her. In fact I could gladly have kissed
her for the pleasure that her revelation of inefficiency gave me.
After the performance, when we were in the manager’s presence,
M. Marchand was then the man, I let him know how I felt, through
the intermediation of Mr. Stein, who acted as interpreter.
The hall by this time was empty. There were only six of us on the
stage; M. Marchand, his wife, the second orchestra leader, M. Henri
Hambourg, Mr. Stein, my mother and I.
“Ask M. Marchand,” I said to Mr. Stein, “why he has engaged a
woman who gives a feeble copy of my dances when you wrote him
from Berlin to propose his talking with me.”
Instead of translating my question my “interpreter” replied:
“Are you really so sure of yourself? Have you forgotten that you
have been proposing to dance at the Opera? Perhaps he knows
about it.”
“That doesn’t matter,” I replied. “Put the question to him just the
same. And besides, this man doesn’t know anything.”
I learned afterwards that M. Marchand spoke English and
understood it as well as Mr. Stein and I. He must have had great
difficulty, that evening, in checking a longing to laugh. As a matter of
fact he restrained it perfectly, for we were unable to detect it, and we
did not discover that he was familiar with Shakespeare’s language.
Mr. Stein forthwith translated my question.
“I engaged this dancer,” replied M. Marchand in French, “because
the Casino de Paris is announcing a serpentine dance and because I
cannot afford to let them get ahead of me.”
“But,” I asked, “are there other dancers of this sort at Parisian
theatres?”
“No. The one at the Casino has broken her engagement. But for
my part I had already engaged your imitator. As you see, she is
meeting with no great success, and I fancy that you will hardly
achieve it either. Nevertheless, if you care to give me a rehearsal I
am at your service.”
“Thank you. You would like me to give you a rehearsal so that a
thief may steal some more of my dances!”
But my agent urged me so strongly to show the manager what
my dances were like, especially as compared with those of my
imitator, that I decided to do so.
I put on my robes, one after the other, and began to dance. The
orchestra was composed of a single violin, and for illumination I had
only the footlights.
When I had finished the manager made me come into his private
office and proposed to engage me then and there. I was to make my
appearance as soon as the other dancer had ended her
engagement.
“No,” I declared. “If I come to you this woman will have to go.”
“But,” he said, “I have engaged her. She cannot leave until the
end of her agreement.”
“You have only to pay her for her performances and she will go.”
He objected then that lithographs, newspaper advertisements
and other things had been prepared for her, and that, if she stopped
dancing, the public might protest.
“Very well. In that case I will dance in her place, under her name,
with her music, until you have arranged everything for my debut.”
The next day he paid my imitator and she left the theatre.
That same evening I took her place and I was obliged to repeat
her dance four or five times.
Then we set ourselves at work seriously upon rehearsals for my
debut, which was announced to occur a week later.
After I had danced twice under my imitator’s name the manager
of the Folies-Bergère took me to the office of the Figaro.
I knew well that from the point of view of advertising this was an
excellent idea, but I did not know until long after that my definite
engagement had depended on the impression I created there. I have
not forgotten that I owe my entire career to the memorable success I
achieved on that occasion.
Eight days later the general rehearsal occurred, which ended
only at four o’clock in the morning, and still I had been unable to
complete my programme, comprising five dances: 1, the serpentine;
2, the violet; 3, the butterfly; 4, a dance the public later called the
“white dance.” As a finale I intended to dance with illumination from
beneath, the light coming through a square of glass over which I
hovered, and this was to be the climax of my dances. After the fourth
number my electricians, who were exhausted, left me there
unceremoniously.
I was unwilling to make my appearance without my last dance,
but, in the face of my manager’s threat to cancel our contract, I
finally yielded.
Next day I was able, nevertheless, to rehearse this fifth dance,
and at the time of the performance everything was ready for my
initial appearance.
The enthusiasm of the audience grew progressively while I
danced.
When the curtain fell after the fourth dance, the applause was
deafening and the music that served as prelude to dance number
five could not be heard. Upon the manager’s order the curtain was
raised again and again, and the plaudits continued to deafen us. I
had to yield to the inevitable; it was impossible, and useless, to keep
on dancing. The four dances, with the encores, had lasted forty-five
minutes and, despite the stimulus of great success, I had reached
the limit of my strength.
I looked at the manager and asked:
“How about the last one?”
“We don’t need it. Those you have just danced have been
enough to stir the audience up. Don’t you hear the cheering?”
A moment later we were surrounded by a great crowd and I was
almost dragged to my dressing-room.

Photo Lafitte
THE DANCE OF FLAME
From that day on I had adventure after adventure. Not until long
afterward was I able to get the benefit of my fifth dance. Some years
later I initiated at Paris the dance of the fire and the lily, and that
once again at the Folies-Bergère. I remember an ovation very similar
to that at my first appearance. This time, however, I was no longer
an unknown performer, as in 1892. I had numerous Parisian friends
in the house. Many of them came upon the stage to congratulate me,
and amongst them, Calvé. She took me in her arms, kissed me and
said:
“It’s wonderful! Loie, you are a genius.”
And two big tears coursed down her cheeks. I have never seen
Calvé prettier than at that moment.
Well, that is the story of my first appearance in Paris.
VI
LIGHT AND THE DANCE

S INCE it is generally agreed that I have created something new,


something composed of light, colour, music, and the dance,
more especially of light and the dance, it seems to me that it
would perhaps be appropriate, after having considered my creation
from the anecdotal and picturesque standpoint, to explain, in more
serious terms, just what my ideas are relative to my art, and how I
conceive it both independently and in its relationship to other arts. If I
appear to be too serious I apologise in advance.
I hope that this theoretical “essay” will be better received than a
certain practical essay that I undertook, soon after my arrival in
Paris, in the cathedral of Notre Dame.
Notre Dame! The great cathedral of which France is justly proud
was naturally the objective of one of my earliest artistic pilgrimages, I
may say of the very earliest. The tall columns, whose shafts,
composed of little assembled columns, rise clear to the vaults; the
admirable proportions of the nave; the choir, the seats of old carved
oak, and the railings of wrought iron—this harmonious and
magnificent pile impressed me deeply. But what enchanted me more
than anything else was the marvellous glass of the lateral rose
windows, and even more, perhaps, the rays of sunlight that vibrated
in the church, in various directions, intensely coloured, as a result of
having passed through these sumptuous windows.
I quite forgot where I was. I took my handkerchief from my
pocket, a white handkerchief, and I waved it in the beams of
coloured light, just as in the evening I waved my silken materials in
the rays of my reflectors.
Suddenly a tall imposing man, adorned with a heavy silver chain,
which swung from an impressive neck, advanced ceremoniously
toward me, seized me by the arm and led me toward the entrance,
directing a conversation at me which I appreciated as lacking in
friendliness although I did not understand a word. To be brief he
dropped me on to the pavement. There he looked at me with so
severe an expression that I understood his intention was never to let
me enter the church again under any pretext.
My mother was as frightened as I was.
Just then a gentleman came along, who, seeing us completely
taken aback, asked us what had happened. I pointed to the man with
the chain, who was still wrathfully surveying us.
“Ask him about it,” I said.
The gentleman translated the beadle’s language to me.
“Tell that woman to go away; she is crazy.”
Such was my first visit to Notre Dame and the vexatious
experience that my love of colour and light caused.
When I came to Europe I had never been inside an art museum.
The life that I led in the United States had given me neither motive
nor leisure to become interested in masterpieces, and my knowledge
of art was hardly worth mentioning. The first museum whose
threshold I crossed was the British Museum. Then I visited the
National Gallery. Later I became acquainted with the Louvre and, in
due course, with most of the great museums of Europe. The
circumstance that has struck me most forcibly in regard to these
museums is that the architects have not given adequate attention to
considerations of light.
Thanks to this defect I get in most museums an impression of a
disagreeable medley. When I look at the objects for some moments
the sensation of weariness overcomes me, it becomes impossible to
separate the things one from another. I have always wondered if a
day will not come when this problem of lighting will be better solved.
The question of illumination, of reflection, of rays of light falling upon
objects, is so essential that I cannot understand why so little
importance has been attached to it. Nowhere have I seen a museum
where the lighting was perfect. The panes of glass that let the light
through ought to be hidden or veiled just as are the lamps that light
theatres, then the objects can be observed without the annoyance of
the sparkle of the window.
The efforts of the architect ought to be directed altogether in that
direction—to the redistribution of light. There are a thousand ways of
distributing it. In order that it may fulfil the desired conditions light
ought to be brought directly to pictures and statues instead of getting
there by chance.
Colour is disintegrated light. The rays of light, disintegrated by
vibrations, touch one object and another, and this disintegration,
photographed in the retina, is always chemically the result of
changes in matter and in beams of light. Each one of these effects is
designated under the name of colour.
Our acquaintance with the production and variations of these
effects is precisely at the point where music was when there was no
music.
In its earliest stage music was only natural harmony; the noise of
the waterfall, the rumbling of the storm, the gentle whisper of the
west wind, the murmur of the watercourses, the rattling of rain on dry
leaves, all the sounds of still water and of the raging sea, the
sleeping of lakes, the tumult of the hurricane, the soughing of the
wind, the dreadful roar of the cyclone, the crashing of the thunder,
the crackling of branches.
Afterwards the singing birds and then all the animals emitted their
various sounds. Harmony was there; man, classifying and arranging
the sounds, created music.
We all know what man has been able to get from it since then.
Man, past master of the musical realm, is to-day still in the
infancy of art, from the standpoint of control of light.
If I have been the first to employ coloured light, I deserve no
special praise for that. I cannot explain the circumstance; I do not
know how I do it. I can only reply, like Hippocrates when he was
asked what time was: “Ask it of me,” he said; “and I cannot tell you;
ask it not and I know it well.”
It is a matter of intuition, of instinct, and nothing else.
Sight is perhaps the first, the most acute, of our senses. But as
we are born with this sense sufficiently well developed to enable us
to make good use of it, it is afterward the last that we try to perfect.
For we concern ourselves with everything sooner than with beauty.
So there is no reason for surprise that the colour sense is the last to
be developed.
Yet, notwithstanding, colour so pervades everything that the
whole universe is busy producing it, everywhere and in everything. It
is a continued recurrence, caused by processes of chemical
composition and decomposition. The day will come when man will
know how to employ them so delightfully that it will be hard to
conceive how he could have lived so long in the darkness in which
he dwells to-day.
Our knowledge of motion is nearly as primitive as our knowledge
of colour. We say “prostrated by grief,” but, in reality, we pay
attention only to the grief; “transported with joy,” but we observe only
the joy; “weighed down by chagrin,” but we consider only the
chagrin. Throughout we place no value on the movement that
expresses the thought. We are not taught to do so, and we never
think of it.
Who of us has not been pained by a movement of impatience, a
lifting of the eyebrows, a shaking of the head, the sudden withdrawal
of a hand?
We are far from knowing that there is as much harmony in motion
as in music and colour. We do not grasp the facts of motion.
How often we have heard it said: “I cannot bear this colour.” But
have we ever reflected that a given motion is produced by such and
such music? A polka or a waltz to which we listen informs us as to
the motions of the dance and blends its variations. A clear sparkling
day produces upon us quite a different effect from a dull sad day,
and by pushing these observations further we should begin to
comprehend some more delicate effects which influence our
organism.
In the quiet atmosphere of a conservatory with green glass, our
actions are different from those in a compartment with red or blue
glass. But usually we pay no attention to this relationship of actions
and their causes. These are, however, things that must be observed
when one dances to an accompaniment of light and music properly
harmonised.
Light, colour, motion and music.
Observation, intuition, and finally comprehension.
Let us try to forget educational processes in so far as dancing is
concerned. Let us free ourselves from the sense that is ordinarily
assigned to the word. Let us endeavour to forget what is understood
by it to-day. To rediscover the primitive form of the dance,
transformed into a thousand shapes that have only a very distant
relationship to it, we shall have to go back to the early history of the
race. We then get a notion what the origin of the dance must have
been and what has made it what it is to-day.
At present dancing signifies motions of the arms and legs. It
means a conventional motion, at first with one arm and one leg, then
a repetition of the same figure with the other arm and the other leg. It
is accompanied by music, each note calls for a corresponding
motion, and the motion, it is unnecessary to say, is regulated rather
by the time than by the spirit of the music. So much the worse for the
poor mortal who cannot do with his left leg what he does with his
right leg. So much worse for the dancer who cannot keep in time, or,
to express it better, who cannot make as many motions as there are
notes. It is terrifying to consider the strength and ability that are
needed for proficiency.
Slow music calls for a slow dance, just as fast music requires a
fast dance.
In general, music ought to follow the dance. The best musician is
he who can permit the dancer to direct the music instead of the
music inspiring the dance. All this is proved to us by the natural
outcome of the motives which first impelled men to dance.
Nowadays these motives are forgotten, and it is no longer
considered that there should be a reason for dancing.
In point of fact the dancer on hearing a piece of new music, says:
“Oh, I cannot dance to that air.” To dance to new music, the dancer
has to learn the conventional steps adapted to that music.
Music, however, ought to indicate a form of harmony or an idea
with instinctive passion, and this instinct ought to incite the dancer to
follow the harmony without special preparation. This is the true
dance.
To lead us to grasp the real and most extensive connotation of
the word dance, let us try to forget what is implied by the
choreographic art of our day.
What is the dance? It is motion.
What is motion? The expression of a sensation.
What is a sensation? The reaction in the human body produced
by an impression or an idea perceived by the mind.
A sensation is the reverberation that the body receives when an
impression strikes the mind. When the tree bends and resumes its
balance it has received an impression from the wind or the storm.
When an animal is frightened its body receives an impression of fear,
and it flees and trembles or else stands at bay. If it be wounded, it
falls. So it is when matter responds to immaterial causes. Man,
civilised and sophisticated, is alone best able to inhibit his own
impulses.
In the dance, and there ought to be a word better adapted to the
thing, the human body should, despite conventional limitations,
express all the sensations or emotions that it experiences. The
human body is ready to express, and it would express if it were at
liberty to do so, all sensations just as the body of an animal.
Ignoring conventions, following only my own instinct, I am able to
translate the sensations we have all felt without suspecting that they
could be expressed. We all know that in the powerful emotions of joy,
sorrow, horror, or despair, the body expresses the emotion it has
received from the mind. The mind serves as a medium and causes
these sensations to be caught up by the body. In fact, the body
responds to these sensations to such an extent sometimes that,
especially when the shock is violent, life is suspended or even
leaves the body altogether.
But natural and violent movements are possible only in the midst
of grand or terrible circumstances. They are only occasional motions.
To impress an idea I endeavour, by my motions, to cause its birth
in the spectator’s mind, to awaken his imagination, that it may be
prepared to receive the image.
Thus we are able, I do not say to understand, but to feel within
ourselves as an impulse an indefinable and wavering force, which
urges and dominates us. Well, I can express this force which is
indefinable but certain in its impact. I have motion. That means that
all the elements of nature may be expressed.
Let us take a “tranche de vie.” That expresses surprise,
deception, contentment, uncertainty, resignation, hope, distress, joy,
fatigue, feebleness, and, finally, death. Are not all these sensations,
each one in turn, humanity’s lot? And why can not these things be
expressed by the dance, guided intelligently, as well as by life itself?
Because each life expresses one by one all these emotions. One
can express even the religious sensations. Can we not again
express the sensations that music arouses in us, either a nocturne of
Chopin’s or a sonata of Beethoven’s, a slow movement by
Mendelssohn, one of Schumann’s lieder, or even the cadence of
lines of poetry?
As a matter of fact, motion has been the starting point of all effort
at self-expression, and it is faithful to nature. In experiencing one
sensation we cannot express another by motions, even when we can
do so in words.
Since motion and not language is truthful, we have accordingly
perverted our powers of comprehension.
That is what I have wanted to say and I apologise for having said
it at such length, but I felt that it was necessary.
VII
A JOURNEY TO RUSSIA—A BROKEN
CONTRACT

S OON after I had made my first appearance at the Folies-


Bergère a Russian manager, in accordance with an
arrangement with my Parisian manager, M. Marchand, asked to
engage me, and I signed with him for St. Petersburg.
My engagement was for the following spring.
At the end of the winter, in April, on the very day on which we
were to leave for Russia, my mother tottered and would certainly
have fallen if I had not been there to support her. I asked what was
the matter. She didn’t know, but for some time she had been
suffering. She went to bed, saying:
“I cannot go. But you take the train so as not to disappoint your
people, and I will follow you to-morrow morning.”
I was unwilling, however, to leave her in such a condition. The
manager of the Folies-Bergère, who had acted as intermediary
between the Russian manager and myself, had come to the station
to say good-bye. When he saw that I had missed the train he came
to our house and “showed off.” Meantime, I had called in a local
physician, who could not tell me what was the trouble with my
mother. As he was French I understood only that she was very ill. My
mother’s condition grew worse and I made up my mind not to leave
her.
Photo Falk
LOIE FULLER AND HER MOTHER
Next day M. Marchand returned, and this time with
representatives of the police. They compelled me to dress myself
and then took me down to the station, where, almost by main force,
they put me on the train along with my electricians.
Despite my explicit resolutions of the night before, there I was on
my way to Russia!
At the first stopping-place I left the train and boarded one which
took me back to Paris. I found my mother much worse, and I begged
the doctor to mention my name to no one.
I had engaged a nurse to watch over my mother. For two days I
hid whenever anyone came, to such an extent did I feel myself in the
hands of the Philistines.
When the train arrived at St. Petersburg and the electricians
discovered that I was not there, more trouble ensued.
The Russian manager wired Paris, and I was unable to keep my
secret any longer. This time, taking advantage of my ignorance both
of the law and of the French language, they threatened to arrest me
and imprison me if I did not start for Russia at once. All that was
under the pretext that I had taken money in advance. I was actually
accused of being a thief.
This whole scene took place in my mother’s presence. We were
both nearly dead with fright. My mother begged me to go. With my
heart full of bitterness, and my eyes sore from crying, I allowed
myself to be dragged away a second time and placed in the train.
After my departure a young Englishwoman, whom I had met only
once or twice, came to call at our appartement, and finding my
mother very ill, went, on her own initiative, and summoned an
English physician, Dr. John Chapman, who had attended us before,
and whom she had met at our house. I had not called him because I
supposed that the physician whom I had engaged would be just as
competent to cure my mother sufficiently for her to be able to go with
me to St. Petersburg.
Dr. Chapman arrived just at the moment when the French
physicians (the doctor who was attending my mother had called
three of his colleagues into consultation) had decided to give her a
soporific on the ground that she was dying of pneumonia and that
nothing could save her. The English doctor offered to attend my
mother, and the Frenchmen retired when they learned that he was
our regular physician.
Dr. Chapman inquired after me, and when he was informed about
what had happened wired me all along the line, at each station
where the train was scheduled to stop. He maintained that they
ought never to have let me go.
Just as I reached the Russian border the telegram was brought to
me: “Return at once. Your mother has very little chance of
recovering.”
This was the first news to reach me since my departure, forty-
eight hours before. It was six o’clock in the morning and still dark. I
was in bed in the sleeping car and it was cold, as it can be cold only
in Russia.
The conductor knew no English and I spoke no language but my
own. I was unable to make him understand that I wished to know
when I could leave the train and return to Paris. I dressed myself
hastily, packed my things helter skelter and, when the train arrived at
the next station, I alighted with all my baggage. What a bare and
desolate spot! It was a little station, with hardly a platform. Away the
train went rumbling, leaving me there in that wilderness. What was I
to do? I had no idea. I banged on the door of the wooden hovel that
served as a station. It was closed. For a long time, a very long time,
shivering with cold, grief and anguish, I walked up and down in the
darkness like a caged beast. Finally a man appeared out of the
night. He swung a lantern, which made a little round spot of light in
the gloom. He opened the door and I followed him into the hut. I
presented myself at the ticket office and tried to make him
understand that I wanted a ticket for Berlin. I offered him French
currency. He handed it back to me. I managed to understand that he
would take only Russian money and also that the train that would get
me back to Berlin was not due for three or four hours. Then I waited
for day to break, hoping that perhaps some one would come who
could help me. Towards nine o’clock some people arrived and
among them I noticed an old fellow in whom I recognised the
traditional Polish Jew, a money-lender I was sure, with his long black
coat, his big round hat, his beard and his crafty smile.
I went to him and asked if he knew any English.
He did not know a word.
He tried to speak French and then German, but I failed to
understand what he said. I succeeded in making him understand that
I wanted to go to Berlin, and that the railway employee would not
accept my French banknote. This bill of a thousand francs and a little
ready money were all I had with me.
My interpreter took possession of the thousand francs, secured a
ticket for Berlin for me and then disappeared for the purpose of
changing my bill. I did not think of following him, although he bore my
whole fortune away with him.
The man was a thief. He never came back. I realised in an
ecstasy of fright, when the train arrived, that there I was without
money enough to purchase a ticket from Berlin to Paris. At the first
station I telegraphed to some acquaintances whom I had met in
Berlin, but on whom I could hardly count and who very likely were
not at the German capital just then. I begged them, at all hazards, to
come to the station and bring me a little money so that I could
continue my journey.
At this point begins the strange part of my adventure. I was alone
in my compartment when we crossed the Russian border. Weighed
down with dejection, I sat on the carpet of the carriage, with my head
resting heavily on the woodwork, crying as if my heart would break.
At the first stop a priest entered. Although I had quickly raised myself
and wiped my face with my handkerchief, he saw at once that I was
in trouble. He came and sat down opposite to me, and I noticed by
his expression that he was disturbed by my suffering. Tears again
flooded my cheeks and I told him that my mother was dying in Paris.
He repeated the words “mother” and “ill” in German. He extended his
hand to bid me not to speak for a minute. He closed his eyes and I
looked at him. Everything subsided within me. I awaited for a
miracle. The miracle took place.
After ten minutes, which seemed to me an age, he opened his
eyes and said to me in German:
“No, no, your mother will not die.”
I understood what he said, catching the words “mother” and “not.”
The frightful sense of oppression that was torturing me disappeared.
I perceived that his words were not in vain, that he spoke the truth
and that my mother was not going to die. I stopped crying, feeling
sure that now everything would come out all right.
Presently he left me, and I understood, from his manner of
speaking, that he was trying to give me courage and hope.

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