Closure of Primary Lead Smelting Not the End for Doe Run's Herculaneum Operation

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--At the end of this week, primary lead smelting and byproduct sulfuric acid operations will cease at the Herculaneum lead smelter in Missouri, ending about 200 jobs. The Herculaneum smelter will no longer receive ore from sister mines in Missouri, and furnace operations will shut down before the Christmas holiday.

Doe Run Company has been planning the closure of the smelter for some time now, following an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Doe Run will retain 75 employees to continue operating the refinery and to perform maintenance at the site.

The Herculaneum smelter has operated since 1892, and includes a sinter, blast furnace and 75,000-ton-per-year byproduct sulfuric acid plant. The closure of the smelter marks the end of primary lead-smelting operations in the U.S. There are numerous secondary lead producers in the U.S., but the Herculaneum smelter was the only primary smelter.

Last year, Doe Run cancelled plans to construct a new lead-manufacturing plant that would have used hydrometallurgical process technology to meet new environmental standards. There is a chance that a smaller plant could be built in Herculaneum or elsewhere in the U.S.

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