The US and Canada will have one remaining primary lead smelter following the closure of Glencore's 120,000 t/yr smelter in Belledune, New Brunswick, at the end of the year. Glencore said yesterday it will begin decommissioning the Brunswick smelter immediately, with operations ending by the end of 2019.
The 2013 closure of the Brunswick zinc and lead mine made the Belledune smelter economically unviable, Glencore said.
Following the mine closure, the smelter transitioned to a custom smelter that could process lead/silver concentrate by-product from the zinc smelter and recycled materials, including batteries and lead glass, according to Glencore's website.
With Brunswick shuttered, the last primary lead smelter in Canada will be Teck Resources' Trail Operations in British Columbia, which produces approximately 90,000 t/yr of refined lead. The last US primary lead smelter closed in December 2013 when Doe Run shut its smelter in Missouri.
North American lead production has shifted toward secondary smelters, which recycle used lead-acid batteries and other forms of scrap.
By Jeremy Rakes
