Mr Antonio Brack environment minister of Peru said that the Peruvian government is ready to give bankrupt US owned smelter operator Doe Run Peru an additional 20 months to comply with the Environmental Clean Up and Management Program or PAMA.

Mr Brack said that Mr Pedro Sanchez energy and mines minister told him the extension for Doe Run will be part of a bill soon to be sent to Congress.

Mr Brack said that “This is so Congress decides the extension of the PAMA by 20 months, because we believe they should also give their opinion.”

Doe Run which declared itself insolvent early last month and is engaged in a restructuring has already spent USD 400 million on a plant to treat sulfuric acid residues generated by its smelter.

The firm took out an ad in Peruvian newspapers to plead its case for an extension of the PAMA deadline. But Mr Hans Flury the president of Peru’s National Mining, Petroleum and Energy Society or SNMPE said Doe Run must offer financial guarantees that it can comply with PAMA as a condition of any extension.

Mr Hans Flury added that Doe Run will remain suspended from the SNMPE until the company demonstrates that it can eventually execute the PAMA program.

Doe Run Peru a subsidiary of US conglomerate Renco has operated the La Oroya smelter which produces lead, zinc, copper, silver and gold as well as byproducts such as sulfuric acid and indium in the central region of Junin since 1997 and the Cobriza copper mine in the Huancavelica region since 1998.

Amid the global financial crisis, Doe Run Peru was forced to pare down its operations to a minimum saying it lacked sufficient funds after a group of foreign banks cut off its credit line in March.

(Sourced from laht.com)