DEQ approves gold exploration in the upper Blackfoot
Laura Lundquist
(Missoula Current) The state of Montana has given an Australian mining company the go-ahead to explore gold deposits in the headwaters of the Blackfoot River.
On Monday, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality announced it had approved an amended exploration license for Sentinel Metals to probe for gold in the Columbia Gold Project near Lincoln.
The exploration license amendment authorizes Sentinel Metals to use core drilling to characterize the Columbia Gold Project area, building on prior exploration conducted in 2016. Up to 21 drill holes will each have drill pads of 50 feet by 35 feet, which could affect up to 1.5 acres that were disturbed by earlier exploration activities. Some of the holes may be drilled as deep as 2,300 feet, so they will likely pass through the aquifer.
Water used to cool the drill bits - up to 1,000 gallons a day - would be trucked from a domestic well on property just west of Lincoln. The exploration is expected to last six to eight weeks. No new access roads are authorized and nor is further mining. Reclamation is to take place concurrently with drilling operations and is required to be complete within 2 years of the exploration work.
DEQ calculated an estimated reclamation cost of $338,792. Sentinel Metals posted the bond on May 26, which DEQ accepted on June 3. DEQ issued an Approval to Proceed for the project on June 5.
Great Plains Mining LCC, a subsidiary of Australia-based Sentinel Metals, filed an amendment to its exploration license on Jan. 26 to allow for additional exploration this spring or summer. In late March, DEQ released a draft environmental assessment of the Columbia Gold Project, located on a private inholding on the Lewis and Clark National Forest.
The property, owned mostly by Great Plains Mining, is about 3 miles south of Highway 200 and contains three old mine sites: the Columbia, Rover and Seven Up Pete mines. Seven Up Pete Creek flows along its southwestern border and a small tributary on its northern side feeds into Hogum Creek. Both creeks flow into the Blackfoot River.
More than 8,700 public comments were submitted on the draft assessment between March 20 and April 13. Many of the comments were similar covering 26 broad themes, according to DEQ. Among other things, the themes included the use of cyanide in potential future mining; the adequacy of the exploration license framework and amendment procedures; recreational and wilderness values; locally adopted environmental plans and goals; terrestrial and aquatic life and habitats; and water quality, quantity, and distribution.
The Clark Fork Coalition submitted comments saying DEQ should conduct a full environmental impact statement instead of just an assessment because of several questions about the effect on water. The Blackfoot River is still recovering from the breach of the Mike Horse Dam in 1975, which sent vast amounts of sediment and heavy metals surging into the Blackfoot River above Lincoln.
More than $100 million has been spent restoring stream channels and floodplains, and a water treatment plant was built to treat the contaminated mine water in perpetuity. The Clark Fork Coalition said the environmental assessment “fails to consider how this project fits with the pollution reduction goals in the (impairment plan) and how this project will affect the long-term recovery of the upper Blackfoot River.”
In the final environmental assessment, DEQ said soil, water and air resources would experience “only small, temporary increments of additional disturbance,” and the exploration activities wouldn’t use cyanide to process the minerals. The assessment also said exploration licenses can be amended to allow new work but approval of the exploration license doesn’t approve any mining. If Sentinel Metals decides to mine, it would have to apply for a new permit and DEQ would conduct a new assessment.
“Approval of the proposed action does not set any precedent that commits DEQ to future actions with significant impacts or a decision in principle about such future actions,” according to the environmental assessment.
Sentinel Metals is a new mining company that debuted on the Australian stock market on Oct. 30 under the leadership of former Rio Tinto executive Matt Herbert. It raised $10 million in its initial offering after Herbert said Sentinel was poised “to develop a new large-scale gold project in North America.”
On its homepage, Sentinel touts the Columbia Project as its flagship gold project, saying Montana “a great place to do business” because “Montana offers a compelling setting for new mine development, supported by a stable regulatory environment and strong infrastructure.”
“Located in the heart of one of the world’s most exciting emerging gold districts, the Columbia Project offers a compelling combination of a large existing resource, simple geology and exceptional exploration upside –providing a strong foundation for growth. With drilling and technical studies set to commence immediately, we are focused on expanding and upgrading the resource and progressing the project rapidly towards development,” Herbert said in an October statement.
In a March presentation for an Australian conference for financial services and fund managers that featured a photo of Herbert with Governor Greg Gianforte, the company claimed recoveries of 96% gold and 77% silver from exploratory drilling. The decades of exploration and 400 drill holes have produced more than 34,000 samples that indicate the Columbia Project has 23.6 million tons of ore that holds 920,000 ounces of contained gold, according to Sentinel Metals.
Contact reporter Laura Lundquist at lundquist@missoulacurrent.com.