Raw lead straight out of the earth

[MtGun44]

Is that lead smelter south of St. Louis still in business? I wonder if I could drive over and
buy a ton or so?

Bill

[felix]

Yes, Bill, it's called DoeRun operations in Herculaneum, on I-55, just north of CrystalCity/Festus where the glass operations are. Lots of calcium carbonate around there plus other rocky compounds. The ore is mined southwest of that home office. DoeRun does allow customer pickup on very large amounts, but I have been told by some others that some "falls off the truck" in a beer-to-beer fashion. ... felix

DoeRun lead that I have is very blue in 55Kelvin light. That will be your indicator of the industrial pure stuff. I am not sure if lab grade lead is produced there in that area. Alton, 50 miles north on the river, is where most of it is shipped to by barge. Olin is there, and they prolly process it further into lab grade stuff. That would be my guess. ... felix

[MtGun44]

Felix,

Thanks for the info. I have heard that there was a lead smelter over on the east side
of Missouri, south of St. Louis.

I wonder how one may go about getting a "small amount", like 500 or 1000 lbs?

Bill

[Thumbcocker]

A co-worker is a rock hound and gave me a humk about the size of a muskmellon. It is in crystal form. I mentioned using it for boolits and he squalled something fierce so it just sits in my loading area.

[felix]

Bill, Lawrence, the shot and half-lino guys selling to the public, is across the river, slightly south of Alton which would be WoodRiver/EastSaintLouis. Prolly our vendor, RotoMetals, buys from Lawrence or DoeRun directly. Consider the transportation costs specifically. However, if traveling on vacation that won't count unless you are pulling a wagon of sorts. Call in advance to these guys and see if they are willing to "wholesale" for beer money. ... felix

Lawrence Brand Shot, Granite City, IL
http://www.manta.com/c/mthcy6w/lawre...and-shotCached
You +1'd this publicly. Undo
Lawrence Brand Shot in Granite City, IL is a private company categorized ... Lead Products (Mfrs) in Granite City, IL; Non-Ferrous Metal Except Cu & Al ...

... felix

[oldred]

There is a creek in Ky where I grew up that has a vein of lead about 1/8" thick sandwiched between two layers of a soft black rock. This seam is underwater but when the water was low we could carve out chucks of the stuff for fishing sinkers, it looked just like any other lead once the black crud was scraped off the top and bottom. I haven't thought about that for many years, I am sure a person could easily dig out a lot of lead from there.

[Boolseye]

Oh, so that's the Galena reference! I should have put it together. I drove through Galena about 6 years ago.