Lead value

[*Paladin*]

I was reading in here as usual, and I see the general concensus is that lead will continue to rise in value. Anybody ever think maybe the opposite could happen once the WW's are banned? I'm no financial expert, so I could be completely off-mark, but once the WW's are no longer made of lead, it seems there will be a surplus of lead over night. Without a demand on the lead, the price should drop. I am curious what's going to happen when the WW manufacturers are no longer buying lead. They have to be a pretty decent portion of the lead market's buyers, correct?

Is my logic flawed?

[winelover]

Probably just add the word VINTAGE to them to warrent the price increase!

Winelover

[Trapshooter]

My concern is that lead possession will become more regulated. Already, if a business has more than 100 lbs of lead on site, it must periodically report to the EPA and account for every ounce that comes into and goes out of the plant, inventory, how much sold in product, how much recycled/reclaimed, an how much lost. If you can't provide documentation for what you did, you are considered to be a polluter, and the penalties are draconian. The business, the owners and managers are all at risk, and as far as I know, there is no time limit. If you are a small guy, they crush you, if you are a little bigger, they grind you down then crush you. They have the resources of the Gov't at their disposal.


If the EPA decides to expand and attack non-commercial users, lead will have a significant negative value.

Trapshooter

[white eagle]

there is no way for Uncle Sam to tell me
what I can have on hand
they don't know .....I dont even know....how will they know
I agree with Paladin
there will be a supply of lead somewhere just need to find it .....
let the games begin

[Freightman]

there is no way for Uncle Sam to tell me
what I can have on hand
they don't know .....I dont even know....how will they know
I agree with Paladin
there will be a supply of lead somewhere just need to find it .....
let the games begin

We tell them all the time here!

[white eagle]

I lost all mine in a poker game
go fish...........

[thegreatdane]

mine was stolen in the middle of the night.

[tackstrp]

lead used for many things other than bullets. doubt price will drop like a lead brick.

[Flip]

They'll be making lead/acid car batteries for years to come. We just need to find an easy way to get them open and neutralize the acid.

[bigjake]

They'll be making lead/acid car batteries for years to come. We just need to find an easy way to get them open and neutralize the acid.

Even if the acid is neutralized those stupid plates dont melt. I found this really old battery that was empty and all dried out, I threw that junk in an old skillet outside and ended up with zip.

[Stick_man]

I don't see the prices dropping much at all once the all out ban on lead wheelweights takes effect. What I do see, however, is a lot more leaded toys and other products coming from China. There will be high demand for the lead there for many years to come, maybe even in wheelweight form.

[bumpo628]

Even if the acid is neutralized those stupid plates dont melt. I found this really old battery that was empty and all dried out, I threw that junk in an old skillet outside and ended up with zip.

I've done it before just to see what you get. You have to break all the crumbly stuff out of the lead screens first. The screens will melt.

However, as said in one of the stickys: it is really not worth it to mine batteries for lead. Those things are built tough and full of acid. No matter how well you think you've neutralized it, there's more acid in there. The plates will start to burn if they're left out in the air. The lead has calcium and other stuff in it that we don't want. If that isn't enough, poisonous gases can be formed if you mix the dross from WW lead and battery lead. By the way, guess how much lead you get out of a 30 lb automotive battery - 3 or 4 lbs.

[fryboy]

with their new road/house/vehicle scanners lead will show up on a flash x-ray like a brite lite in the dark of nite , so much more so than most other metals as it blocks the radiation and assorted other rays ....wont be hard to find IMHO
i dont see the demand for lead going away but what i do see is the desire to control and regulate ,yup mostly control ( anyone read about turning in your gold coins in the 30's ? ) and if by some ill conceived notion they outlawed lead guess what ? we'd be criminals overnite ( how nice and convenient ...[insert sarcasm here] ) here's a good example of their failed logic - light bulbs ..anyone like the new ummm so called eco-friendly toxic mercury filled florescent ones ? in order to save a little bit of energy it's ok to introduce a much more toxic chemical ( mercury ) but hey so what if they poison more of the world we're saving a little bit of energy right now ( right ? )
suppose they dont come right out and outlaw lead - only lead fired from guns -- how much is that stash worth now ? ( and how suddenly worthless every muzzle loader ) there would still be a demand for lead and i'm sure draconian penalties for those who deviate from their desired control , i honestly cant say that it will increase in value only that our dollar will be worth less so it will take more to buy it if it's not outlawed

[chas8008]

I've done it before just to see what you get. You have to break all the crumbly stuff out of the lead screens first. The screens will melt.

However, as said in one of the stickys: it is really not worth it to mine batteries for lead. Those things are built tough and full of acid. No matter how well you think you've neutralized it, there's more acid in there. The plates will start to burn if they're left out in the air. The lead has calcium and other stuff in it that we don't want. If that isn't enough, poisonous gases can be formed if you mix the dross from WW lead and battery lead. By the way, guess how much lead you get out of a 30 lb automotive battery - 3 or 4 lbs.

I found, pick up, and took home 13lbs for lead left on the ground from a car fire.



Not sure id I want to cast with it or not...

[songdog53]

One day lead will be bought on black market.....anytime goverment outlaws anything a black market springs up. Course migh be high but then if need it i'm sure will be be cheaper that those J bullets.

[Benji40]

OK, I guess I get to be the contrarian. On Kitco's site you can look up the daily price of base metals like lead and see the history charts. Also you can see how much lead is being held in inventory. Supply on-hand is astronomical compared to historical average, I would think prices will drop based on that. When I don't know.

[lwknight]

We had a fun thread awhile back about how many boolits 194,000 metric tons of lead would make. The tonnage on hand is owned by investors. They are hedging and just holding.

Maybe lead will be currency one day.

[cajun shooter]

China is buying lead up fast and is the reason that the price is where it is at now. Back in the 70's when the gas line thing was going on the public was told that as soon as the vehicle market built better cars the price of fuel would come down. They forgot to figure in how many more people would be on this earth and driving. They also forgot about the word greed. I heard 25 years ago that if the public would buy Diesel vehicles that would bring the price down. Then the oil people found that all of our goods are delivered by Diesel and instead of being the cheapest fuel it is now the most expensive. The common man will never be but one breathe away from drowning.

[fredj338]

I was reading in here as usual, and I see the general concensus is that lead will continue to rise in value. Anybody ever think maybe the opposite could happen once the WW's are banned? I'm no financial expert, so I could be completely off-mark, but once the WW's are no longer made of lead, it seems there will be a surplus of lead over night. Without a demand on the lead, the price should drop. I am curious what's going to happen when the WW manufacturers are no longer buying lead. They have to be a pretty decent portion of the lead market's buyers, correct?

Is my logic flawed?

NO, as long as they use lead to make batteries, that is where it's all going in the future. The amount for ww is small compared to elec car batteries.

[Stick_man]

Maybe lead will be currency one day.

LOL, then they could legitimately say "The value of the dollar is dropping like a lead weight". And lead don't rise very easily either.

The economy would likely remain pretty "sluggish".