China, Spain, Belgium Interested In Buying Leftover Copper at ASARCO

There’s global interest in what’s been left behind at El Paso’s old copper smelter.

Before crews begin tearing down ASARCO, those in charge of the site have been busy trying to sell off what they can; in some cases to international customers.

The smelter abruptly shut down its operations in 1999 leaving millions of dollars worth of copper inside the plant.

Roberto Puga of Project Navigator, the group overseeing the demolition and sale of ASARCO, told ABC-7 they now have offers from smelters in Mexico, Spain, Belgium and Germany to buy either ASARCO’s equipment or some of that leftover copper.

Puga said even the copper residue that splashed onto the walls and floors during years of the smelting process is valuable.

“You would get a buildup of that stuff,” he told ABC-7. “All that material we can now gather up and sell.”

Puga added he hopes the sale of the equipment and copper will mean an extra $10-15 million for the trust set up to clean the ASARCO site.

That trust began with $52 million in cash.

The first phase of demolition at the smelter is scheduled to begin in late November with the iconic smokestack set to come down in about a year.