copper | North Fork Preservation Association

Southern Cabinet Mountains, as seen from Swede Mountain, near Libby

The second of two mines crowding the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness is getting closer to operational approval . . .

Days after one northwest Montana mining project won state approval to start operating near the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness, another expects to see its supplemental environmental impact statement arrive for public review this week.

Coeur d’Alene-based Hecla Mining Co. officials said they expected the environmental review to reach the U.S. Forest Service on Tuesday, with publication expected in the Federal Register on Friday. That starts a 45-day comment period.

Hecla took over Revett Mining Co. in June, paying Revett shareholders $20 million in Hecla stock in the deal. That spelled the closure of Revett’s Troy Mine, but gave greater impetus on opening the larger Rock Creek Mine project five miles northeast of Noxon, in Sanders County. That mine holds a purported 229 million ounces of silver and 2 billion pounds of copper.

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Well now, it seems the Montana Department of Environmental Quality has reservations about the Montanore Mine proposal . . .

Montana officials are considering giving only partial approval to a $500 million silver and copper mine proposed beneath a wilderness area near the Idaho border, injecting uncertainty into a project that’s been in the works for more than a decade.

Regulators have continuing concerns with the Montanore Mine’s potential effect on surrounding waterways, said Tom Livers director of the Montana Department of Environmental Quality.

“We’re not sure we can approve the full mining plan that’s been proposed,” Livers told The Associated Press. “We’re looking at what we can approve. Some may have to happen subsequently as we get more information.” A decision is expected in late January.

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