Hecla is taking a different path with its operations in Montana. The mining company has withdrawn its plans of operation for the proposed Rock Creek and Montanore mines in Northwest Montana and is focusing more on exploration. The company has submitted a new plan that just includes exploration at the proposed Montanore site. ‘We believe it’s an easier pathway,” Mike Satre with Hecla said last week.
Satre, the company’s director of governmental affairs, said that the plan of exploration being reviewed by the U.S. Forest Service will leverage the existing infrastructure at Montanore. He said the exploration plan will allow the company to get the technical and hydrological data needed by the company. “Then we can step pack and see if a mine is feasible,” he stated. He added that the new plan will allow the company to take advantage of what is needed to put together a concrete plan for the proposed mine. The exploration plan is estimated to take five to six years after it is approved.
The Montanore plan will not require any additional permits, Satre added, and as a scaled-back plan will requiring a smaller workforce, but a workforce that Satre called meaningful. In the future if the company is able to mine at Montanore or Rock Creek, there would be tax benefits for Sanders County. “We believe there’s incredible value out there in Montanore and Rock Creek,” he said.
While there are no current plans to pursue the proposed copper and silver mine at Rock Creek near Noxon, Satre said Hecla will continue to maintain that ground. “We’re very much committed to the process,” he stated.
For more information on the Montana projects, visit http://www.hecla-mining.com.
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