Doe Run seeks permission to look for Missouri lead

Environmentalists are opposed to the exploration plan because it targets an area within Mark Twain National Forest. But with a 15-to 20-year sup ply remaining, Doe Run says it is under pressure to start looking for more reserves before the current supply begins to run out.

Formed in 1986, when the lead operations of St. Joseph Minerals were combined with those of Homestake Mining, Doe Run is a privately owned partnership. Last year, it produced 236,000 tons of lead metal representing more than 90% of the primary lead production in the U.S.

Doe Run operates six mines and four mills in a mining region known as the new Lead Belt about 150 miles southwest of St. Louis. The company also operates smelters through its smelting division at Herculaneum and Boss, Mo.

In response to opposition to the company’s exploration plan, President Jeffrey Zelms says Doe Run takes its environmental responsibilities seriously and, if approval is gained, it will begin exploration in south-central Missouri under strict safety and government regulations. The company plans to target an area about 50 miles south of its current operations.

“Doe Run has been mining for 33 years in Mark Twain National Forest,” he said. “If we’d acted irresponsibly during that time, we would have been barred from operation there.”

According to Zelm, the development of a new mining district would be an important economic boost to a depressed area of the state where unemployment is about double the state national average.

A new mine, he said, could result in $1 million in annual taxes and royalties for local schools, roads and other government services, and create 120 primary jobs.

Doe Run is the 23rd largest privately held company in the U.S. Future plans include construction of a $30-million recycling operation at its Buick smelter, allowing it to produce 60,000 tons of secondary lead, annually, plus saleable plastic and sodium sulfate from used automobile and industrial batteries. The company is not producing secondary lead at the moment.

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