Libby Project<\/a>, formerly known as the Montanore Mine, contains potentially 1.5 billion pounds of copper and 183 million ounces of silver.<\/p>\nMike Satre, Hecla\u2019s director of governmental affairs, said in an email to the Daily Montanan that the next steps of the exploration project will include dewatering and rehabilitation of approximately 7,000 feet of the existing Libby Adit, or mine shaft, followed by extending the adit nearly a mile.<\/p>\n
The project\u2019s operational documents indicate that an additional 6,300 feet of lateral shafts would be constructed above the mineral deposits, and mineral exploration would take place from approximately 25 underground drill stations.<\/p>\n
Satre told the Daily Montanan Monday that Hecla is in the process of obtaining a new water discharge permit, expected in 2026, from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality to support additional exploration and development activities. The dewatering and rehabilitation of the existing adit\u00a0can proceed,\u00a0he added.<\/p>\n
But the project has long drawn criticism from conservation groups concerned over potential impacts to groundwater, a nearby wilderness area and protected species, such as grizzly bears.<\/p>\n
Several comments submitted to the Forest Service on the draft decision earlier this year emphasized problems with increased traffic and construction noise, as well as perceived flaws with the department\u2019s environmental analysis, especially given the mining operation will stretch beneath the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness.<\/p>\n
Ben Catton, with the Montana Environmental Information Center, said earlier this year that Hecla\u2019s push for the small exploration project is \u201can obvious attempt to be given an inch in order to take a mile.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Libby Exploration Project is still massive in ecological impact,\u201d Catton wrote. \u201c\u2026The documents downplay impacts or offer unclear plans for mitigating said impacts, ranging from the potential for dewatering of streams, increasing stream water temperatures, surface subsidences, and geochemical leaching.\u201d<\/p>\n
MEIC was part of a previous lawsuit related to exploration at the Libby site. The suit against Montana\u2019s Department of Environmental Quality focused on a former Hecla CEO, designated a \u201cbad actor,\u201d for leaving millions of dollars in reclamation and water treatment obligations while at a previous company.<\/p>\n
Baker left Hecla in May 2024, and Krcmarov was appointed in November 2024, and the lawsuit was dismissed.<\/p>\n
Members of Montana\u2019s congressional delegation lauded the approval of the exploration permit.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Libby Exploration Project will provide good-paying Montana mining jobs without harming our beautiful lands and will help unlock the high value of world class copper and silver. President Trump\u2019s administration has proven yet again that they are committed to protecting Made-In-Montana energy and supporting Montana miners,\u201d Montana U.S. Sen. Steve Daines said in a statement. \u201cI look forward to seeing the positive impacts this project will have on our state and our nation as we continue to unlock America\u2019s full mining potential.\u201d<\/p>\n
The exploration process is expected to take 16 years, after which the project \u201cwould be closed and reclaimed over a three-year period,\u201d according to Satre.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny future decision on the viability of a mine will be wholly dependent on the collection of data from the exploration drilling and it is unknown how long the assessment of that data will take,\u201d Satre said. \u201cIf Hecla decides to proceed in the future, it will require submission of a new plan of operations to the U.S. Forest Service and will initiate a public permitting process.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The federal government announced last week that the U.S. Forest Service approved a mining company\u2019s exploration permit at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":222682,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,125092,125093,125094,5474,125095,125096,3,125097,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-222681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-copper-mining","tag-hecla","tag-hecla-mining-company","tag-mining","tag-montanore","tag-montanore-mine","tag-news","tag-silver-mining","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=222681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222681\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=222681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=222681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}