U.S. lead manufacturing is in for a bright future

[gryphon]

The recent closure of the 150 year old Doe Run lead smelting plant in Herculaneum, Missouri caused quite a stir.  Turns out the Doe Run plant – built close to the Lake City Ammunition facility on which a large portion of the military supply chain depends – has developed a cheaper, cleaner and safer alternative to traditional lead smelting.

The necessary infrastructure for the new process will cost only $30 million as opposed the $150 million that would have been needed to upgrade the existing smelting facility to meet new EPA standards. Likewise, the new process will be cheaper, have a far diminished environmental impact and offer greater efficiency at a “99 percent versus 95 percent” extraction rate.

With world demand estimated to almost double over the next decade, it appears that U.S. lead manufacturing is in for a bright future. 

http://www.mining.com/lead-smelting-going-green-with-new-technology-from-doe-run/

[detroit_fan]

good, suck on that epa!

[CV67PAT]

Lead is out pacing bitcoins as the new world "currency."

[gryphon]

Oops, I didn't notice that article was from 2011.  So now I'm confused.  Maybe the company decided not to make the changes and just shut down?

[CV67PAT]

No, but I am getting confused.

Oops, I didn't notice that article was from 2011.  So now I'm confused. Maybe the company decided not to make the changes and just shut down?

I'm beginning to see a pattern developing here.

[gryphon]

Oops, I didn't notice that article was from 2011.  So now I'm confused.  Maybe the company decided not to make the changes and just shut down?

Okay, here's the skinny.

Doe run had planned to get this new process online by the time they closed the old smelter but, announced in 2012 that they couldn’t afford to build the new plant. Right now they claim to “continue to pursue opportunities to bring this technology to commercialization.”

http://www.doerun.com/MediaCenter/NewsReleases/Article/Herculaneum-Smelter-Update.aspx

As far as lead used for ammunition, ammo makers don't use pure lead, which is primarily used for scientific applications and making quality batteries for telecommunication and military applications, they use recycled lead from car batteries and such which is cheaper.  Doe Run's secondary smelters that do that aren't affected by this other closure.

[Pond Scum]

Okay, here's the skinny.

Doe run had planned to get this new process online by the time they closed the old smelter but, announced in 2012 that they couldn’t afford to build the new plant. Right now they claim to “continue to pursue opportunities to bring this technology to commercialization.”

http://www.doerun.com/MediaCenter/NewsReleases/Article/Herculaneum-Smelter-Update.aspx

As far as lead used for ammunition, ammo makers don't use pure lead, which is primarily used for scientific applications and making quality batteries for telecommunication and military applications, they use recycled lead from car batteries and such which is cheaper.  Doe Run's secondary smelters that do that aren't affected by this other closure.

Thanks for your "investigative" reporting gryphon!  This brief summary is the best I have read on the lead situation.

Here is another article ....

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-23/last-u-s-lead-smelter-to-shutter-in-ore-rich-missouri.html

I drove through Pitcher, OK a few years back.  It was a major lead mining area and produced most of the lead used in WWI.  Now it is a ghost town.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picher,_Oklahoma