Daily InterLake
Forest Service Gives Go-Ahead to Rock Creek Mine, by William L. Spence.
Kootenai National Forest officials gave the go-ahead Friday to a hard-rock copper and silver mine near Noxon.
The agency approved a two-phase development plan for Sterling Mining Co.'s proposed Rock Creek mine, which would be located adjacent to the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness Area.
The mine itself would tunnel under a portion of the wilderness area. All processing, tailings, transportation and water treatment facilities would be built outside of the wilderness on about 482 acres, of which 140 acres is national forest land.
The project faces a number of additional hurdles before it can break ground, though, including a three-month appeal period, uncertain economic conditions and potential litigation.
"I believe this decision will be appealed again, and I believe litigation will be used as well," noted Kootenai Forest Supervisor Bob Castaneda during a press conference on Friday.
A previous decision approving the mine was issued in 2001.
However, that was appealed by the Western Mining Action Group, which represents six groups opposed to the project. A subsequent lawsuit prompted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to withdraw its biological opinion, which forced Castaneda to withdraw his approval.
The federal agency reissued its opinion in May, once again concluding that the mine would not jeopardize grizzly bear, lynx or bull trout populations in the area.
Castaneda said his role was to review Sterling's proposal and make sure it complies with various state and federal laws, such as the 1872 Mining Act, the Wilderness Act, the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Air and Clean Water acts.
"If they can meet all those requirements, we can't deny approval," he said.
Efforts to develop Rock Creek have been under way for at least 16 years.
Sterling Mining Co. acquired the claim from ASARCO in 1999, together with the Troy Mine, for $20 million.
At full production, the mine would excavate about 10,000 tons of material per day. Its expected operating life is 30 to 35 years; about 476 direct and indirect jobs would be created, with an annual payroll of about $13.5 million.
Based on Friday's approval, Sterling must develop the mine in two phases: First building an evaluation adit, or tunnel, and then - if all goes well - constructing the main tunnel and facilities.
In addition to telling the company more about the ore body, "the evaluation adit gives us information about ground water, geochemistry and other characteristics," Castaneda said. "We'll look at that and see if the information is consistent with the analysis we made regarding the effects of the mine. If it is, they can go to Phase II."
Project Coordinator John McKay said Sterling will have to address a number of mitigation requirements before it can start Phase I, including posting a $2.3 million reclamation bond and fully funding two state fish and game positions - one for law enforcement and one for a grizzly-bear specialist.
If the project moves to Phase II, he said, the reclamation bond will eventually reach $44 million to $77 million, depending on how the company handles the water treatment.
An additional $13 million bond would be required for wildlife mitigation, McKay said, and Sterling would have to purchase or obtain conservation easements on 2,450 acres of private land to provide habitat for grizzlies.
However, several media representatives - particularly those from areas located downstream from Noxon - questioned whether the bond was adequate in case of catastrophic failures or unforeseen impacts.
"We don't bond for catastrophic events," McKay said. "We bond for full reclamation, and we re-evaluate the amount periodically, as they build more."
Castaneda said the mine will be required to meet state and federal water quality requirements, and to pay for monitoring programs to make sure it stays compliant.
Noting that taxpayers were stuck with a $30 million clean-up bill when the reclamation bond for the Zortman-Landusky gold mine south of Malta proved inadequate, one reporter asked Castaneda why he thinks Rock Creek will be any different.
"We learned from experience," he said.
June 28, 2003
Copyright 2003 The Daily Interlake
The agency approved a two-phase development plan for Sterling Mining Co.'s proposed Rock Creek mine, which would be located adjacent to the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness Area.
The mine itself would tunnel under a portion of the wilderness area. All processing, tailings, transportation and water treatment facilities would be built outside of the wilderness on about 482 acres, of which 140 acres is national forest land.
The project faces a number of additional hurdles before it can break ground, though, including a three-month appeal period, uncertain economic conditions and potential litigation.
"I believe this decision will be appealed again, and I believe litigation will be used as well," noted Kootenai Forest Supervisor Bob Castaneda during a press conference on Friday.
A previous decision approving the mine was issued in 2001.
However, that was appealed by the Western Mining Action Group, which represents six groups opposed to the project. A subsequent lawsuit prompted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to withdraw its biological opinion, which forced Castaneda to withdraw his approval.
The federal agency reissued its opinion in May, once again concluding that the mine would not jeopardize grizzly bear, lynx or bull trout populations in the area.
Castaneda said his role was to review Sterling's proposal and make sure it complies with various state and federal laws, such as the 1872 Mining Act, the Wilderness Act, the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Air and Clean Water acts.
"If they can meet all those requirements, we can't deny approval," he said.
Efforts to develop Rock Creek have been under way for at least 16 years.
Sterling Mining Co. acquired the claim from ASARCO in 1999, together with the Troy Mine, for $20 million.
At full production, the mine would excavate about 10,000 tons of material per day. Its expected operating life is 30 to 35 years; about 476 direct and indirect jobs would be created, with an annual payroll of about $13.5 million.
Based on Friday's approval, Sterling must develop the mine in two phases: First building an evaluation adit, or tunnel, and then - if all goes well - constructing the main tunnel and facilities.
In addition to telling the company more about the ore body, "the evaluation adit gives us information about ground water, geochemistry and other characteristics," Castaneda said. "We'll look at that and see if the information is consistent with the analysis we made regarding the effects of the mine. If it is, they can go to Phase II."
Project Coordinator John McKay said Sterling will have to address a number of mitigation requirements before it can start Phase I, including posting a $2.3 million reclamation bond and fully funding two state fish and game positions - one for law enforcement and one for a grizzly-bear specialist.
If the project moves to Phase II, he said, the reclamation bond will eventually reach $44 million to $77 million, depending on how the company handles the water treatment.
An additional $13 million bond would be required for wildlife mitigation, McKay said, and Sterling would have to purchase or obtain conservation easements on 2,450 acres of private land to provide habitat for grizzlies.
However, several media representatives - particularly those from areas located downstream from Noxon - questioned whether the bond was adequate in case of catastrophic failures or unforeseen impacts.
"We don't bond for catastrophic events," McKay said. "We bond for full reclamation, and we re-evaluate the amount periodically, as they build more."
Castaneda said the mine will be required to meet state and federal water quality requirements, and to pay for monitoring programs to make sure it stays compliant.
Noting that taxpayers were stuck with a $30 million clean-up bill when the reclamation bond for the Zortman-Landusky gold mine south of Malta proved inadequate, one reporter asked Castaneda why he thinks Rock Creek will be any different.
"We learned from experience," he said.
June 28, 2003
Copyright 2003 The Daily Interlake