After six months of uncertainty and a violent protest that left a police officer dead, Peru’s Congress has granted a 30-month extension for environmental mitigation work at a major smelter in the central highland city of La Oroya. Doe Run, a subsidiary of the privately held U.S.-based Renco Group, had cut back on operations and finally shut down its smelter in June because of economic problems. In February, three banks had cut off the line of credit Doe Run used to pay mining companies that supply it with ore concentrate for processing. The smelter, which processes lead, zinc and copper, has a history of environmental problems dating from its opening in the 1920s. When Doe Run bought the complex in 1997, its environmental... [Log in to read more]