Doe Run Co expects 2017 production from its lead mines in southeastern Missouri to be comparable to 2016, when it reduced its annual lead output by 20,000 mt to reflect depressed metal prices at the time, a company official said Wednesday.
"We are trying to get at least the same level [of production] we had for 2016," said Jose Hansen, vice president of sales and marketing for the St. Louis-based company. "We are not going to increase production."
Because of its private ownership status, Doe Run does not routinely release production figures.
The company has said it produces about 250,000 mt/year of lead concentrate. Its mines include Casteel, Buick, Brushy Creek and Fletcher, which are connected via 21 miles of underground roadways. It also operates the Sweetwater mine and Mine 29, which are located nearby but not physically connected to the other four.
Fueled by rising demand from battery makers, lead prices have risen during the past year.
Doe Run, in a sustainability report released Tuesday, suggested it is interested in boosting its lead production.
"I wish we had more mines," Hansen said. "We're trying to add more resources than we have currently."
He did not elaborate, nor did the sustainability report.
But Doe Run President and CEO Jerry Pyatt said in the report his company is "excited" about the metals it mines, copper and zinc as well as lead.
"Market analysts predict demand for lead-based batteries will grow as a result of expanding economies across the globe, growth in hybrid electric vehicles and [as] renewable energy storage demand expands around the globe," he said.
Doe Run, he added, is doing its part to support the development of the next generation of lead batteries as a member of the Advanced Lead Battery Consortium, an international research and development group.
Still, Pyatt said Doe Run's future is not based solely on lead.
"Zinc and copper, two other metals contained in ore found in our Southeast Missouri mines, are vital for everyday life," he said.
