It is Montana’s only permitted river due to the exceptional public demand to experience its fishing and recreational opportunities. Tintina is also planning a major expansion beyond their original permit application, and has purchased several mineral leases and claimed several forest service tracts.

You have permission to edit this article. The town of Bear Creek in south-central Montana is home to the once prosperous Smith Mine #3 which is remembered today as the site of one of the worst mining disasters in American history. 3, a coal mine located between the towns of Bearcreek and Washoe. Introductory offer for new subscribers only. A lazy 59-mile float through deep limestone canyons, green meadows and pine forests that support the best brown trout fishery in the state, the Smith River is so popular it requires a lottery, the only one of its kind in Montana, to keep its fans from loving it to death. Tintina’s proposed copper mine is particularly concerning because it will mine through sulfide minerals, which when exposed to air and water can react to form sulfuric acid in a process known as acid mine drainage. Schlepp anticipated the litigation will be slow. Great Falls Tribune, 2/16/15: Bigger bond for metal mines sought, Billings Gazette, 1/22/2015: Don’t Sacrifice Smith River to Copper Mining (Guest Editorial), Missoulian, 6/9/2014: Black Butte Copper Mine proposal brings battle to Smith River, Missoulian, 4/8/14: Mining company revises exploration plan for Smith River headwaters, Field & Stream, 4/1/14: Lawsuit Filed Against Mining Exploration on Montana’s Smith River, Missoulian opinion by Greg Tollefson, 3/27/14: A New Threat to Smith River, Bozeman Daily Chronicle, 3/17/14: Lawsuit Challenges DEQ approval of mine near Smith River, Billings Gazette, 1/16/14: State OKs copper exploration at head of Smith River, Helena Independent Record, 6/16/13: Copper Mine Near White Sulfur Springs Gets Initial OK From DEQ, © 2016 Save Our Smith, All Rights Reserved, submitted an application to the state of Montana. Walsh, President of Simms Fishing Products).
State officials announced Friday that construction can begin on an underground mining project north of White Sulphur Springs that conservationists worry will harm the Smith River. And, it’s an important economic engine – generating upwards of $10 million in economic activity for Montana. The river contributes about $10 million annually to the state’s economy, he said. Before mining, Tintina must provide the DEQ with detailed designs for the project and obtain additional permits from the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation. The permitted section of the Smith River winds 59 miles through a remote canyon in the Big Belt Mountains. Tintina posted an approximately $4.6 million bond to cover the project’s first phase. “Anything that affects that tributary is going to affect the Smith.”. In addition, water that is used in the underground mine will be treated and added back to the groundwater, and all entrances into the mine will be closed off, according to Schlepp. Tintina and Sandfire have now applied for a full-scale mine operating permit from the Department of Environmental Quality. Now anglers, ranchers and conservationists fear for its future, Wed 29 Jul 2020 09.00 BST Montana’s Smith River is an extraordinary resource, and deserves our most rigorous effort to protect it from mine pollution and dewatering. Engineering consultants hired by the plaintiffs maintain that the cemented tailings touted by Sandfire are far from a surefire solution. Montana has never turned down a mining permit, and hard-rock mines have a long history of polluting the state’s waterways. headquartered Tintina Resources is managing the project, Sandfire Resources recently purchased a controlling stake in the proposal, meaning that major decisions will now be made by a board of directors located over 8,000 miles away. “Dear Governor Bullock and Director Livers. Tintina is also planning a major expansion from their original application materials. Montana’s Smith River is renowned worldwide for its clean water, rugged canyon scenery, and blue ribbon trout fishery.
We are deeply troubled that the public has been granted such a paltry amount of time for reviewing and commenting on a technical document containing well-over 800 pages—this is frankly unacceptable. “No major natural resource project in Montana goes unchallenged, at some point,” she said. “And it inspired me even more to protect this river from the mine that could destroy it.”. Montana’s Smith River is renowned worldwide for its clean water, rugged canyon scenery, and blue ribbon trout fishery. The Sheep Creek drainage accounts for over half of tributary spawning of rainbow trout in the Smith River drainage, and rainbow trout have been known to travel nearly 200 miles round-trip from the Missouri River to spawn! Montana’s Smith River is renowned for its spectacular scenery, towering limestone canyons, and blue-ribbon trout fishery.

“This is our final permit,” said Rebecca Harbage, a DEQ spokesperson. While Vancouver, B.C. Do we want to add a failed mining experiment on the Smith River to the list, at the cost of existing, perpetual Montana jobs? The Smith is Montana’s only permitted recreational river. Colin Cooney, the Montana field coordinator for Trout Unlimited, said Sheep Creek is a critical trout fishery and tributary to the Smith River. (406) 443-2520

A small Canadian company, Tintina Resources, has partnered with Australian mining firm Sandfire Resources and applied for to develop a large copper mine directly adjacent to and underneath Sheep Creek at the headwaters of the Smith River in central Montana.The project, known as the Black Butte Copper Mine, is located approximately 20 miles north of White Sulphur Springs in central Montana. It would be an underground, rather than open-pit, structure that requires the removal and disposal of approximately 800,000 tons of sulfide-rich waste rock, which has been the source of acid mine runoff that has destroyed waterways and fisheries all over the state in the past century.

The mine, about 17 miles north of White Sulphur Springs, would be underground, accessed by a 5,000-foot tunnel that would take about 18 months to build. Harbage said the operating permit only authorizes site preparation. To see what else is happening in Gallatin County subscribe to the online paper. bestring@earthworksaction.org, Bozeman Daily Chronicle, 6/8/17, State wants more detail on Smith River mine, Great Falls Tribune, 3/17/17, Smith River mine prompts bill to boost reclamation bonds, Bozeman Daily Chronicle, 12/16/16, DEQ Again Asks Tintina to revise Smith River mine, 10/17/16, Helena Independent Record, Helena City Commission adopts Smith River resolution, Missoulian, 12/16/15: Company applies for operating permit for copper mine near Smith River, Bozeman Daily Chronicle, 10/17/15: Why gamble on the future of Montana’s Smith River? For now, the fate of the mine and the Smith River is in the hands of the state . Acid drainage could flow through fractures in the bedrock, into the groundwater, and ultimately into the Smith River. Low 6F. Mining activity would take place about 20 miles upstream from the confluence of the Smith River and Sheep Creek. A spokesperson for Sandfire Resources America, Nancy Schlepp, said in an emailed statement that the company wasn’t surprised a lawsuit had been filed. This year, the 84-year-old writer and documentary film-maker took her first trip down the Smith River in western Montana. The deadline for it to reply to the legal challenges is the end of July, but the process will probably be a long one and could drag out well past November’s US presidential election. A gold mine near Yellowstone national park and oil and gas leases on the Rocky Mountain Front were all bought out or legislated away because they were in places too special or fragile to risk. The DEQ is working toward calculating an appropriate bond covering reclamation costs, which the company will need to post before mining. As the cement decomposes, tailings will oxidize, which has the potential to produce acid drainage. The Smith River is not a location for another failed mining experiment. The Smith Mine also killed two of McNeish’s relatives in the 1930s. State officials announced Friday that construction can begin on an underground mining project north of White Sulphur Springs that conservationists worry will harm the Smith River. Since it was a Saturday, there was a short crew in the mine. Nancy Schlepp, a spokesperson for Tintina, said work will begin Monday.

“Montana DEQ found that all environmental issues have been addressed and that this permit can be granted knowing that the environment which we all value and care for is protected.”. State approves construction on copper mine near Smith River, work to begin Monday, Increasing returned ballots hints at higher turnout, Man charged for digging for treasure in historic Yellowstone cemetery, FWP encourages CWD sampling ahead of general rifle season opening, More snow, record low temperatures expected for Bozeman this weekend, Growth policy nearing final stages, commission vote scheduled for next month, Anglers, outfitters dispute proposed Madison River fishing regulations, Officials pass rules to remove bass from Shields River, Montana, Gallatin County again set daily case records. Dear Governor Bullock and Director Livers. Acid mine drainage is highly toxic to fish and other aquatic life. Algal growth decreases the amount of available habitat for macroinvertebrates (fish food), and gravel beds available for spawning. Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. The company will need to post another bond to actually mine. Find a copy of the Chronicle. Search the complete digital archives for all papers in the Pioneer News Group. (406) 549-7361 The pumped wastewater would contain arsenic and other toxics.

Water pumped from the mine would be treated by a reverse-osmosis process, and the mine tailings, or waste rock, would be deposited in a lined, cement repository. This is not the first fight to stop a mine in Montana, and it probably won’t be the last. There was a problem saving your notification. The cement-tailings paste that Tintina proposes backfilling the mine with will break down over time. Send us your thoughts and feedback as a letter to the editor. On 4 June, an array of conservation organizations filed a lawsuit in state district court, challenging the mine operating permit and alleging a failure to conduct a thorough environmental impact analysis.

The Smith Mine is near Bearcreek, Montana, in Carbon County, not far from Red Lodge, and it’s the site of the deadliest coal mine explosion and fire in Montana history.

You can read a critique of the comments here. © 2020 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. One of the geochemists we hired [to review the project] was just stunned that the state would permit a mine in such a high-sulfur ore body.

The Smith River generates $10 million in annual economic activity to the State of Montana. A week later, they filed a second challenge, against the state’s decision to allow Sandfire to pump large amounts of groundwater for the operation of the mine. Further, the modeling used in the DEIS does not account for how much the surface temperature will change when they replace the water they are proposing to withdraw. Groundwater that is captured in the tunnel will contain arsenic and other toxic substances that pose a serious threat to water quality. The mine to which she refers is the Black Butte copper mine, located on 7,500 acres of private land along Sheep Creek, 17 miles from where it flows into the river.