USFS fast-tracks three mine exploration projects
Laura Lundquist
(Missoula Current) The U.S. Forest Service is considering the exploration of a third new Montana mine in recent months, this time near Dillon, while the agency debates approving a mine near Darby without public input.
On Tuesday, the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest announced it is analyzing a plan of operations for exploration of the Goldfinch Mine proposed in historically mined areas of the Pioneer Mountain foothills. The three mining claims - Dutchman, Jack and Goldfinch - are in the Argenta area near Rattlesnake Creek 16 miles northwest of Dillon. Rattlesnake Creek flows into the Beaverhead River near Dillon.
The Beaverhead-Deerlodge Forest hasn’t made the plan of operations available to the public, but it published a 10-page preliminary environmental assessment of the operations plan. The environmental assessment says six 20-foot-long trenches will be dug at points along a half-mile north-south transect centered on the old Goldfinch Mine. Then they’ll reopen an old shaft - the Bluebird Shaft - which is currently grated. Finally, six holes will be drilled to depths of 100 to 200 feet, using water from Rattlesnake Creek for cooling. The exploration is slated to take three years and disturb about 2 acres across three mining claims totaling 60 acres.
In its environmental assessment, the Forest Service provides no information about which mining company submitted the plan of operations. However, Acting Dillon District Ranger Kevin Hodge told the Missoula Current the company is Dillon-based Groundhog Mining and Milling Company. On its website, the company says it's working with Barrick Exploration, Inc., a subsidiary of Barrick Mining Corporation. But Nathan Hunt of Groundhog Mining said in an email that Barrick "is not in any way associated with any part whatsoever of the proposed Goldfinch Exploration Project."
Over in the Bitterroot Mountains west of Darby, it’s another story when it comes to public comment. On Monday, West Fork District Ranger Dan Pliley said he was starting to do an environmental review of the plan of operations updated on June 12 for exploration of the Sheep Creek Rare Earth Mine. But instead of putting the environmental analysis out for public comment, Pliley is considering granting the project a categorical exclusion from the public process normally required by the National Environmental Policy Act.
“If the analysis indicates that the proposed activities warrant additional NEPA review beyond that of a (categorical exclusion), the Forest will make the appropriate analysis decisions at that time. Public participation, to include a comment period, is anticipated to begin in August,” according to the Bitterroot National Forest announcement.
The Sheep Creek Project has been removed from the Bitterroot National Forest Projects webpage. The public can no longer access the plan of operations submitted by US Critical Minerals Corporation.
Similar to a previous plan submitted on Dec. 5, the June 12 plan said US Critical Minerals Corporation still plans to sample or drill at four locations near the confluence of Sheep Creek and the West Fork of the Bitterroot River. However, the biggest change from the previous plan is that all four sites will primarily be serviced by helicopter flying out of Conner, about 30 miles away.
Over the course of a year, up to 35,000 pounds of bulk samples per day will be hauled by pickup and gooseneck trailer to Conner, in up to two loaded outbound trips per day. Drilling will require 8,500 gallons of water per day. Bulk sampling will use 300 gallons per day. Some water is expected to be recycled. Water would be trucked in from outside the project area or be ferried to sites by helicopter.
A few weeks ago, Phillip Ramsey of MPG Ranch called the plan “vague or silent regarding water handling, mine-waste handling, aircraft loads, truck loads, geochemistry, radioactive materials and asbestos.”
“The Forest Service should require baseline data, independent monitoring, corrected technical calculations, and enforceable safeguards before approving this work. The agency should also make clear that exploration approval gives no approval for a future mine,” Ramsey said.
If Pliley approves a categorical exclusion for the Sheep Creek exploration, Ramsey won’t be allowed to submit his recommendations to the Forest Service.
The third mine exploration project proposed on Forest Service land is the Blue Copper Mine, proposed on the Lewis and Clark National Forest near the Continental Divide approximately 6 miles northeast of Avon.
Proposed by Falcon Copper Corporation, the Blue Copper Project is a large-scale copper, gold, silver, and tungsten exploration project that would use up to 127 drill pads with up to 5 drill rigs working at a time over the course of five years. The company plans to use up to 24,000 gallons per day to cool the drills. Snowshoe, Carpenter and Ophir creeks are headwaters of the upper Clark Fork River, where no new water rights can be created, so the company must buy existing water rights.
Helena District Geologist Hans Oaks published an environmental assessment of the Blue Copper project on June 2 and the 30-day public comment period ended on July 2.
Falcon Copper Corp. has already done some exploration on the site. In August 2024, Helena District Ranger Katherine Bushnell issued a decision memo allowing Falcon Copper Corp. to conduct an initial round of exploration drilling on 12 drill pads and surveys in three areas along Forest Service Road 708. Since that project was short-term and along the road, Bushnell used a categorical exclusion to exclude public participation in 2024. That’s the path that Pliley is now considering with US Critical Minerals Corporation.
The Trump administration has given FAST-41 designations to both the Sheep Creek and Blue Copper projects. In 2015, Congress passed the FAST Act to streamline the approval of transportation infrastructure projects. But in April 2025, the Trump administration started using the Act to fast-track critical mineral production by limiting environmental review and reducing permitting requirements as part of Trump’s American Energy Dominance program.
Contact reporter Laura Lundquist at lundquist@missoulacurrent.com.