Last lead smelter to shut down

[Guest tangojuliet]

http://dailycaller.com/2013/10/28/end-of-an-era-last-u-s-lead-smelter-to-close-in-december/ gentlemen we have some issues D:

[musicman]

http://www.tngunowners.com/forums/topic/71685-price-of-lead-and-price-of-bullets-going-to-go-up/

[Flyboy]

Well import from China, All know that imports are cheaper then American. Prices should go down. Cut out the lawyers and benefits to the US workers. Get Chinese kids pouring lead bullets, No health care(oops Obama has already done that) Cut out retirements and union dues. we can import them cheaper then making them here.

 

Fly Boy

[musicman]

I've wondered the same thing, flyboy.  I wonder what supply invesntories manufacturers have on hand, and what kind of bumps they (and then we!) will feel in transition.  Just for the heck of it, I've got another bullet order inbound... no time like the present, eh?

[R_Bert]

Last US primary smelter.

1. US Strategic Stockpile folks have taken notice.
2. Canada is the major supplier for a while now.
3. Supply is not permanently damaged.

It is worrysome, even annoying, but not near as big of a crisis as imagination allows. By far the major impact is the local jobs.

The real concern is rare earths. Edited October 29, 2013 by R_Bert

[Guest tangojuliet]

Last US primary smelter.

1. US Strategic Stockpile folks have taken notice.
2. Canada is the major supplier for a while now.
3. Supply is not permanently damaged.

It is worrysome, even annoying, but not near as big of a crisis as imagination allows. By far the major impact is the local jobs.

The real concern is rare earths.

so the price of ammo shouldnt really be affected by this ????

[R_Bert]

so the price of ammo shouldnt really be affected by this ????

Sure. As with any manufactured crisis. 

 

The market responds to hysteria faster than technical reality.  When the technical shifts back in, then it will calm some.

 

But... All along the process the supply of Pb  has not diminished, only reorganized.

 

A similar market perhaps would be petroleum & natural gas. Technically we have a supply large enough significantly to drive down prices, and to be the #1 producer of both raw products.  But... we don't.  And largely because of the same agency.  

[enfield]

PRIMARY lead smelter.  They were the last who smelted lead from lead ore.  There are still secondary smelters functioning, who reclaim (recycle) lead.  We still have the lead ore, in case we (the nation) needs it.

[mikegideon]

PRIMARY lead smelter.  They were the last who smelted lead from lead ore.  There are still secondary smelters functioning, who reclaim (recycle) lead.  We still have the lead ore, in case we (the nation) needs it.

 

Yep. Somebody will fill the hole. It's not the first time the EPA has ruined a business. It's what they do.

[R_Bert]

PRIMARY lead smelter.  They were the last who smelted lead from lead ore.  There are still secondary smelters functioning, who reclaim (recycle) lead.  We still have the lead ore, in case we (the nation) needs it.

 

Correct.  The remaining primary smelters in North America are located in Canada.

[Flyboy]

Price is going to go up. The biggest cost will now be shipping. With all the ammo companies in MO that use to get it across town, now they are going to have to ship in the lead from a greater distance. The folks that recycle can now go up on there price and still be cheaper then trucking it half way across the country, or importing it in from Canada.

 

Even if its .02 a bullet thats 20.00 on a 1K.

 

FlyBoy

[Vistar]

It may also be a defense issue. More and more industries that help preserve US military strength are going offshore. Imagine if we had to rely on steel bullets? (manufactured from environmentally sustainable recycled... Heck. what's made from steel anymore?)

Edited October 31, 2013 by Vistar

[Flyboy]

The DHS is looking at switching all ammo to used Pencil erasers. You know the part in a number two pencil that is left when you get down to the metal. 

 

We can recycle all grade schoolers pencils and use them for projectiles. Cant kill anyone or hurt them. Helps out the landfills. Should drive down crime, you can pick out the criminal by the little red dot on their chest.  I will be against the law to shoot them between the eyes unless their Hindu.

 

EPA is going for the gun powder also, but don't worry the erasers can be powered by compressed air. Not CO2, it will be band also.

 

FlyBoy

[Chucktshoes]

http://www.nraila.org/news-issues/articles/2013/10/end-of-an-era-last-us-lead-smelter-to-close-in-december.aspx
 
Something to take note of from the NRA ILA press release on this subject. Pay special attention to the portion in bold. 
 

Doe Run made significant efforts to reduce lead emissions from the smelter, but in 2008 the federal Environmental Protection Agency issued new National Ambient Air Quality Standards for lead that were 10 times tighter than the previous standard.  Given the new lead air quality standard, Doe Run made the decision to close the Herculaneum smelter.

Who was President back then?

Edited October 31, 2013 by Chucktshoes

[mikegideon]

The DHS is looking at switching all ammo to used Pencil erasers. You know the part in a number two pencil that is left when you get down to the metal. 

 

We can recycle all grade schoolers pencils and use them for projectiles. Cant kill anyone or hurt them. Helps out the landfills. Should drive down crime, you can pick out the criminal by the little red dot on their chest.  I will be against the law to shoot them between the eyes unless their Hindu.

 

EPA is going for the gun powder also, but don't worry the erasers can be powered by compressed air. Not CO2, it will be band also.

 

FlyBoy

 

If that happens, I'm going to Dolomite's house. He can make bullets out of stuff he got at Walmart.

[A.J. Holst]

Last US primary smelter.

1. US Strategic Stockpile folks have taken notice.
2. Canada is the major supplier for a while now.
3. Supply is not permanently damaged.

It is worrysome, even annoying, but not near as big of a crisis as imagination allows. By far the major impact is the local jobs.

The real concern is rare earths.

 

so rare, 97% are found in China

 

US reserves of rare earth elements assessed for first time

• 20:58 19 November 2010 by Katharine Comisso

The US has 13 million tonnes of rare earth elements but it would take years to extract them, suggests the first detailed report on the country's supply.

"Rare earth" is an alternative name for the lanthanides – elements 57 to 71 – plus yttrium and scandium. The elements are integral to modern life, and are used in everything from disc drives, hybrid cars and sunglasses to lasers and aircraft used by the military.

China controls 97 per cent of the world's supply and has been tightening its export quotas, sparking concerns that the rare earths could live up to their name.

Now, the US Geological Survey has looked at all known national reserves of the elements as part of a larger assessment of the threat posed to defence by limited rare earth supplies.

It found that the domestic pipeline is "rather thin". The US boasts the third largest reserves in the world after China and the Commonwealth of Independent States, made up of nations that were formerly part of the Soviet Union. But the only rare earths mine the US has ever operated, at Mountain Pass, California, is currently inactive. Mining may restart there within two years, but any other mines will be far behind.

Down Under

Only a handful of sites are even being explored. "Then it's literally years before you start applying for permits to start mining or building infrastructure or putting processing facilities in place," says Gareth Hatch of consultancy firm Technology Metals Research in Carpentersville, Illinois, who was not involved in the new report. It could be 10 years or more before any new mines open, the report suggests.

The report says one of the most promising sites is Bokan Mountain on the southernmost island of Alaska. Ucore Rare Metals has been exploring there since 2007, and the region was once home to a uranium mine, so some infrastructure is already in place, together with a deep water port. See a map of other rare earth sites in the US.

The report suggests the US might break its dependency on China's rare earth monopoly by looking to other future suppliers of rare earths, including Australia and Canada. Australia has far fewer rare earths overall than the US, but the ore in its Mount Weld mine contain the highest concentration of the elements known anywhere in the world. Since the mine was completed in 2008, ore has been mined and is now stockpiled, ready for its rare earths to be extracted.

[Superman]

Sierra bullets says not to worry.

 

http://sierrabullets.wordpress.com/2013/11/01/sierra-responds-how-will-the-closure-of-the-lead-smelting-plant-affect-sierra-bullets/

 

But it has affected my lead supply. My boss, who has never reloaded a round in his life much less cast a bullet and also thinks shooting 50 rounds in 1 setting is a lot, has said I cant have the lead wheel weights at work anymore.