Where is ASARCO located?

Tucson, Arizona
Asarco LLC (American Smelting and Refining Company) is a mining, smelting, and refining company based in Tucson, Arizona, which mines and processes primarily copper.

What was ASARCO El Paso?

ASARCO (American Smelting and Refining Company) had a smelter in El Paso that was founded in the 1880s by Robert Towne and that became part of ASARCO in 1889. The facility was a custom smelter that processed several different metals from ore that came from diverse sites.

When was ASARCO demolished?

2013
The ASARCO smoke stacks were demolished in 2013. A discrepancy in the duration of run-time among the air-quality monitors the day of the demolition suggests that bystanders observing this event may have been exposed to (Pb) and other heavy metal contaminants.

What happened to Smeltertown?

And almost as soon as the contamination became known in the 1970s, the community of Smeltertown was erased: its buildings demolished, its people forced out. Now, the men and women who lived and worked in Smeltertown, their children, and their children’s children reunite each year.

What role did Asarco play in the history of El Paso?

ASARCO, originally known as the American Smelting and Refining Company, traces its origins to 1881, when Robert Safford Towne arrived in El Paso after touring the mines in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. During the 1920s ASARCO was the largest mining operator in Mexico, with twenty-four different units.

What is copper smelter?

1 Introduction. Copper smelting plants separate elemental copper from copper concentrates through multiple sulphide oxidizing stages. The considered smelting process includes a continuously functioning flash smelting furnace (FSF) and several Pierce-Smith converters operated in batches.

What do you understand by smelting?

Smelting is an energy intensive process used to refine an ore into a usable metal. The smelting process melts the ore, usually for a chemical change to separate the metal, thereby reducing or refining it. The smelting process requires a lot of energy to extract the metal from the other elements.

When did the Tacoma smelter shut down?

In 1902 the smelter switched to extracting copper, then in 1905 the American Smelting and Refining Corporation (ASARCO) purchased the smelter and continued to operate it primarily as a copper smelter for almost 100 years, until its closing in 1986.

What do you need to smelt copper?

Light the blowtorch. For this purpose, an industrial grade blowtorch such as oxy-acetylene is better than a propane torch because copper has a high melting point. Hold the crucible in place with tongs and direct the flame of the blowtorch at the copper wires.

What is smelting give example?

The chemical reduction of a metal from its ore by a process usually involving fusion, so that earthy and other impurities separate as lighter and more fusible slags and can readily be removed from the reduced metal. An example is the reduction of iron ore (iron oxide) by coke in a blast furnace to produce pig iron.

Why is smelting bad?

Exposure to airborne pollutants from metal processing and smelting can lead to various acute and chronic diseases. Initial sudden exposure can lead to an irritation of the eyes, nose and throat. More serious and chronic effects are heart and lung problems, and even premature death.

How big is the ASARCO site in El Paso?

Under the settlement agreement, ASARCO’s El Paso smelter property (approximately 458 acres) will be placed in an environmental custodial trust. The custodial trust will be funded with a payment of $52,000,000 from ASARCO to address contamination on the property.

When did the ASARCO copper refinery in El Paso close?

Asarco’s smelting plant in El Paso, Texas, was suspended in 1999 and then demolished on April 13, 2013. Before closing, the plant produced 1,000,000,000 pounds (450,000,000 kg) of anodes each year. Refining at the mines as well as at a copper refinery in Amarillo, Texas, produce 375,000,000 pounds (170,000,000 kg) of refined copper each year.

Where are the ASARCO mines located in Arizona?

Asarco conducts solvent extraction and electrowinning at the Ray and Silver Bell mines in Pima County, Arizona, and Pinal County, Arizona, and operates a smelter in Hayden, Arizona. It also had a smelting plant in El Paso, Texas, operations of which were suspended.

Where was the ASARCO smelting plant in El Paso located?

It also had a smelting plant in El Paso, Texas, operations of which were suspended. In 1975 it officially changed its name to Asarco Incorporated. In 1999 it was acquired by Grupo México, which had begun as Asarco’s 49%-owned Mexican subsidiary in 1965.