Asarco LLC [part of Grupo Mexico], a bankrupt copper-mining company, won a judge`s approval of the settlement of more than US$200 million worth of environmental claims for US$27.3 million. The settlements resolve pollution claims related to the company`s mining operations in Leadville, Colorado, where the US Environmental Protection Agency had been trying to keep contaminants from leaking into the Arkansas River. Asarco...filed for bankruptcy in 2005 facing billions of dollars in claims from alleged asbestos-poisoning victims and from governments accusing the mining company of failing to clean up after decades of pollution.