HELENA, Mont. (AP) -- About 5,000 tons of slag from the site of the former East Helena lead smelter is expected to be shipped to Canada over the next few weeks to see if a company there can pull additional metals from the glasslike substance.
Betsy Burns with the Environmental Protection Agency says the company, Vancouver-based Teck Resources Limited, might be able to reheat the slag to extract zinc and other metals, including copper and gold. She says the arrangement is a trial run, but company officials might agree to additional shipments.
The Independent Record reports that the test amount is only a small percentage of the estimated 12 million to 14 million tons of slag at the site of the former Asarco lead plant. The slag, a byproduct of the smelting process, is expected to be transported in covered rail cars to Trail, British Columbia, about 6 miles north of the U.S. border on the Columbia River.
