Welcome to the restructuring information website for the chapter 11 reorganization of ASARCO LLC (“ASARCO”). ASARCO filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code on August 9, 2005 (Case Number 05-21207, Southern District of Texas, Corpus Christi Division). Originally organized in 1899 as American Smelting and Refining Company, ASARCO has operated for over 106 years—first as a holding company for diverse smelting, refining, and mining operations throughout the United States and now as a Tucson-based integrated copper-mining, smelting, and refining company. ASARCO is one of the leading producers of copper and one of the largest nonferrous metal producers in the United States with over 2000 employees in Arizona and Texas alone.

On April 11, 2005, five non-operating subsidiary debtors of ASARCO filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code as a result of massive asbestos litigation filed against them :

1. Lac d’Amiante du Québec Ltée (f/k/a Lake Asbestos of Quebec, Ltd.) (“LAQ”);
2. Lake Asbestos of Quebec, Ltd.;
3. LAQ Canada, Ltd.;
4. CAPCO Pipe Company, Inc. (f/k/a/ Cement Asbestos Products Company) (“CAPCO”); and
5. Cement Asbestos Products Company .

Although LAQ has not milled asbestos since the late 1980s and CAPCO has not produced asbestos-containing products for over a decade, by the late 1990s, both CAPCO and LAQ had been named in thousands of asbestos lawsuits around the country.

On August 26, 2005, Encycle, Inc. and Encycle/Texas, Inc., two other ASARCO subsidiaries, filed for protection under chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (on September 21, 2005, Encycle/Texas, Inc. elected to convert its case to a chapter 7 proceeding). On September 1, 2005, ASARCO Consulting, Inc. filed for protection under chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code.

On October 13, 2005, ten additional non-operating ASARCO subsidiaries filed for protection under chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code:

1. AR Sacaton, LLC;
2. Salero Ranch, Unit III, Community Association, Inc.;
3. Government Gulch Mining Company, Limited;
4. AR Mexican Explorations, Inc.;
5. ASARCO Master, Inc. (a successor by merger to multiple former subsidiaries of ASARCO, including Federated Metals);
6. ASARCO Oil and Gas Company, Inc.;
7. Bridgeview Management Company, Inc.;
8. ALC, Inc.;
9 American Smelting and Refining Company; and
10. Covington Land Company .

By filing their cases, ASARCO and its subsidiaries expect to complete negotiations of a plan that will restructure ASARCO’s balance sheet, channel all asbestos-related claims against the Debtors to a trust, and allow ASARCO to emerge from bankruptcy a more profitable company.