Montanore moves one step closer

 The Montanore Mine project has cleared another regulatory hurdle, which mine officials say could result in the creation of 30 to 35 new jobs as early as September of this year.

On July 22, Deputy Regional Forester David Schmid completed his review of the objections received during the objection period and issued his letter of response. In the letter, Schmid indicated the project would not violate existing environmental law or forest regulation.

“In conclusion, I have reviewed all of the assertions that the project violates various environmental laws, regulations, policies and the forest plan,” he wrote. “My review finds the project will be in compliance with all applicable laws and the forest plan. Where noted above, I have provided instructions to the Forest to provide additional or clarifying information to better demonstrate compliance with law, regulation or policy. The Forest is to submit to me for review the additional clarifying information included in the Final Environmental Impact Statement.”

The objection response letter paves the way for the Record of Decision, which would allow Mines Management, the mine’s owner, to begin the exploration phase of the mine’s development, barring an injunction issued as the result of any legal challenge which could be filed.

“We’ve reached a very important milestone and we’re looking forward to the Record of Decision by September,” said Glenn Dobbs, chief executive officer of Mines Management Inc. “There’s really no reason it can’t be delivered by then.”

Schmid addressed 22 separate issues in his response, in addition to 27 objections raised which he indicated did not require additional clarification.  Schmid requested officials of the Kootenai National Forest provide additional clarification of the methods and data used to reach the conclusions outlined in the Final Environmental Impact Statement and Draft Record of Decision. He noted receipt of the requested clarifying information would clearly demonstrate the project’s compliance.

“Once the instructions pertaining to the Final Environmental Impact Statement are completed, it will be clear that the project will be in full compliance with all laws, regulations, policies and the forest plan, and the Responsible Official may sign the Record of Decision for this project,” he wrote. “My review constitutes the final administrative determination of the Department of Agriculture; no further review from any other Forest Service or Department of Agriculture official of my written response to your objection is available.”

Dobbs said he is pleased with the response letter.

“The U.S. Forest Service and other agencies have gone to great lengths to make sure the Record of Decision and Environmental Impact Statement address all of the issues related to the mine,” he said. “I think they’ve done a marvelous job.”

Dobbs said he plans to hire 30 to 35 people immediately upon the release of the final Record of Decision, most of whom will come from the Libby and Troy communities.

“We have plans to immediately hire 30 to 35 people when we get the Record of Decision and begin the evaluation phase,” he said. “And we’re hoping to do that unimpeded. With the shutdown of the Troy Mine, there’s a large pool of experienced miners in the area, so I would expect almost all of those hires to be local.”

Dobbs expressed some concern about the possibility of litigation over the mine, not due to any issues at the mine itself, but because some groups use such litigation as fundraisers, he said.

“Anti-mining groups often defines themselves as protectors of the environment, but they’re really not,” Dobbs said. “They’re anti-mining and they use projects and lawsuits as fundraisers for their organizations.”

He said the Montanore project is one that shouldn’t raise any red flags in the environmental community.

“In the case of Montanore, we have a project that uses no cyanide,” he said. “It’s not an open pit, so there’s no eye-sore. The nature of the metallurgy and the geology means there will be no acid mine drainage. The Montanore is probably the most environmentally benign project on the drawing board in North American today.”

Dobbs said he hopes the project can move forward without interference by groups he termed “radical activists,” groups he said are wearing out their welcome in Montana.

“We’re rapidly approaching the point at which the people of Montana are sick and tired of a small group of radical activists opposing the development of mines that will bring, directly, hundreds of jobs and indirectly, thousands of jobs, into Montana,” he said. “We’re dealing with radical activists who use these sorts of things to raise money for their causes.”