MERGED: Last lead smelter to shutdown in DEC

[Irish]

Just wait until next year. The conspiracy minded portion of my noodle is telling me that this is happening to restrict ammunition sales and it's being disguised as something for the global warming crowd. Your government may not ban guns but if you can't get any ammo for them they really aren't much good are they? Regardless, this will restrict ammunition production and negatively affect costs no matter the outcome.

In December, the final primary lead smelter in the United States will close. The lead smelter, located in Herculaneum, Missouri, and owned and operated by the Doe Run Company, has existed in the same location since 1892.

The Herculaneum smelter is currently the only smelter in the United States which can produce lead bullion from raw lead ore that is mined nearby in Missouri's extensive lead deposits, giving the smelter its "primary" designation. The lead bullion produced in Herculaneum is then sold to lead product producers, including ammunition manufactures for use in conventional ammunition components such as projectiles, projectile cores, and primers. Several "secondary" smelters, where lead is recycled from products such as lead acid batteries or spent ammunition components, still operate in the United States.

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...

Just this month, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a bill that will ban lead ammunition for all hunting in California. The Center for Biological Diversity has tried multiple times to get similar regulations at the federal level by trying, and repeatedly failing, to get the EPA to regulate conventional ammunition under the Toxic Substances Control Act.

[Airhasz]

This really sucks. Time to put new builds on semi permanent hold and divert all funds to stockpile a mountain of projectiles.

[Irish]

This really sucks. Time to put new builds on semi permanent hold and divert all funds to stockpile a mountain of projectiles.

No rocks for your slingshot makes it kinda useless...

[NWPilgrim]

Already ordered a bit more of my most used bullet calibers. Probably will continue inching up inventory for a while, just in case, while there are supplies available for what I prefer.

Your government may not ban guns but if you can't get any ammo for them they really aren't much good are they?

The gun banners have been yapping about trying limit ammo for some time. Look at California for work in progress. Every few years my comfort level for component inventory gets ratcheted up by political wrangling. I have now about 20 times what I used to keep on hand 18 years ago (which was minimal). Going to have to build an underground magazine here pretty soon if the political climate keeps going the way it has!

[duece71]

Not good, looks like all funds will be going to reloading now. Factory ammo? I haven't shot any since last year before Sandy Hook.

[Irish]

The gun banners have been yapping about trying limit ammo for some time. Look at California for work in progress.

New York's in a race with them...

[SeriousStudent]

This is sure not going to help with the replenishment of my .22 supply.

[Airhasz]

Soon lead will be on par with gold prices...

[skydivr]

From EPA pressure:
--------------------------------

Back Door Gun Control Moves Forward
Submitted by Terresa Monroe-Hamilton on October 29, 2013 – 9:51 am EST
NoisyRoom.net
By: Terresa Monroe-Hamilton
Cross-Posted at Right Wing News

There are numerous alarming reasons why the US government and the military have been buying up all the ammo. Here’s one of them. Obama and the EPA just shut down the last lead smelting plant in the US. They raised the EPA regulations by 10 fold and it would have cost the plant $100 million to comply. You can own all the guns you want, but if you can’t get ammo, you are out of luck.

Remember when Obama promised his minions that he was working on gun control behind the scenes? Welcome to it. Now, all domestic mined lead ore will have to be shipped overseas, refined and then shipped back to the US. Not only will ammo now be even harder to come by, the demand and the process of supply will cause the price to skyrocket even more. And ponder this… there is an excellent chance that Obama will rig the market to where all ammo has to be purchased from a government entity instituting de facto ammo registration. So much for the Second Amendment. There has not been a peep about this in the major news outlets and it is done. With the US no longer producing lead, all supplies will now have to come from China, Australia or Peru, with the overwhelming emphasis on China. More redistribution of wealth; more economic and liberty crippling of the US on tap.
The asshats at the EPA (evil protection agency) had this to say:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said the company “made a business decision” to shut down the smelter instead of installing pollution control technologies needed to reduce sulfur dioxide and lead emissions as required by the Clean Air Act.
The Doe Run Co. announced last year that it had dropped plans to build a new lead processing facility in Herculaneum that would have used a new, cleaner lead production technology. The company cited the $100 million project as too financially risky.
The EPA is playing Mafioso I guess — we didn’t make them shut down, they made a business decision. In other words, they couldn’t pay the extortion, so the thugs shut them down. I’m pretty sure that Americans are getting ready to make their own business decision regarding the Marxists and I don’t think it will be pleasant. But Marxists will do or die and are doubling down on the destruction of energy in America, our way of life and the Constitution.
The smelting plant has known since 2010 this was coming. They couldn’t stop it and no one else rose up to stop it either. The business had been in production for 120 years and now goes the way of our auto industry.
The military’s obsession with ammo was related to security and supply. They knew this was coming too, so they bought up all they could get before the plug was pulled. Screw the average American. It’s as Chris Muir said, he’s not as worried about where the bullets will come from, as much as how the government will deliver them and I’m right there with him on that one.
So, back door gun control is moving forward and while we are all distracted with shiny stuff, our Second Amendment rights are just about gone. Obama is one Marxist dictator who is savvy at political chess. He has flanked the Second Amendment. Now it’s our move.

http://www.trevorloudon.com/2013/10/...moves-forward/

[Apricotshot]

http://sierrabullets.wordpress.com/2...ierra-bullets/

We have had many customers contact us about the closing of the last primary lead smelting facility in the USA. This facility is operated by Doe Run and is located in Herculaneum, MO and is just about a 3 hour drive from our facility in Sedalia, MO.

The main question asked is “Will this shut down your supply of lead.” The answer to that is no. First, Sierra buys lead from several different vendors to maintain constant supply. Second, this facility only smelts primary lead or lead ore. This is lead ore that has just been brought out of the earth. Sierra uses no primary lead at all and never has, so we use nothing directly from this facility. The lead we buy from Doe Run comes from their recycling facility in Boss, MO that is about 90 miles away from the smelter that is closing.