July 24, 2024: Mining and metals company, Doe Run, announced this week that copper industry expert Rene Bustamante has joined the firm to take over from veteran, Louis Magdits, who is retiring. 

A Chilian native, Bustamante will succeed Magdits as vice president of sales and marketing as part of the company’s succession planning and will head up metal and concentrate sales, customer service, transportation, raw materials, and production planning. He will work alongside Magdits until he retires later this year after spending 45 years in the metals industry.

Throughout his career, Bustamante has held positions of increasing responsibility with high-profile mining companies, including Phelps Dodge Corporation, Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, and ASARCO.

Most recently, he was deputy commercial director of Americas Mining Corporation, Grupo Mexico, where he led the global copper corporate commercial team with operations in North America, South America and Europe.

Magdits joined Doe Run’s predecessor in 1991 while the company was converting a primary smelter in Boss, Missouri, into a secondary smelter to recycle lead batteries and other lead scrap into lead metal.

During his time at the company he  established Doe Run’s supply base for all lead-bearing materials from a wide variety of sources and maintained customer relationships with the battery industry and other customers.