Rock Creek project rolling ahead
by Brent Shrum, Kootenai Valley Record
April 8, 2008
As legal challenges brought by a coalition of environmental groups continue to work their way through the court system, Revett Minerals is hoping to begin “actual physical work” on its planned silver and copper mine at Rock Creek in Sanders County in late spring or early summer, said company president and chief executive officer Bill Orchow during a meeting last week in Libby.
The Rock Creek project has been in the permitting stage since 1987 – “not a record but it’s getting close,” Orchow noted. The project has received the necessary permits from state and federal agencies, but the decisions of those agencies have been challenged by environmental groups, postponing construction of the mine. During a meeting last Monday evening in Libby City Hall’s Ponderosa Room, Orchow said he hopes the federal judge hearing the case will allow work to begin while the litigation runs its course.
“There’s no guarantee, but that’s what we are setting our sights on,” he said.
Revett was formed in 1999 to acquire the mothballed Troy Mine and the Rock Creek project from Asarco. Rock Creek was the focus of the company’s founders, who believed that permits would be issued “any day,” Orchow said. When the project got the go-ahead in 2003, Orchow and other experienced mine managers were brought in to run the company.
Following a challenge by environmental groups under the Endangered Species Act, the original biological opinion on the mine’s impacts on grizzly bear and bull trout was rejected by a judge in 2005. A revised biological opinion was issued in October 2006 to address the concerns that had been raised, but another challenge has been filed.
Orchow said things have changed over the years, and groups that once raised legitimate environmental concerns are now simply opposed to any and all development on federal lands.
“The Endangered Species Act was enacted with the greatest of intentions, and it’s become a tool to stop all this development,” he said.
The challenges have resulted in an additional five years of studies and legal proceedings, said Revett vice president of operations Carson Rife.
While rock characteristics at Rock Creek are similar to those at Troy, where no water treatment plant is required, one will be built at Rock Creek to address concerns about negative impacts on the Clark Fork, Rife said. Agreed-upon grizzly bear mitigation measures include the purchase of 2,450 acres of bear habitat, funding two biologists and a law enforcement officer with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks for 30 years, wildlife monitoring, and five miles of road closures.
Once in full operation, the mine is expected to provide about 300 “quality” jobs, paying around $45,000 per year. The lifespan of the mine is estimated at 30 years.
The Troy Mine, which was operated by Asarco from 1980 to 1993 and reopened by Revett in 2004, is projected to operate into 2015. Current employment is about 180 people.
Asked about conflicts with Mines Management Inc., which is working toward establishing its own silver and copper mine across the Cabinet Mountains in Lincoln County, Orchow said he and Mines Management CEO Glenn Dobbs agree on very little, but both agree that there is room for two mines under the Cabinets and that both mines will provide numerous good-paying jobs for the area.
“That’s about where we end our agreement,” Orchow said.
Mines Management acquired the Montanore project from Noranda Minerals, which received permits in 1993 but later walked away due to falling metals prices. Mines Management has reopened the exploration tunnel built by Noranda and is moving ahead on two separate tracks, one to move through the permitting process and the other to begin an evaluation drilling program that will provide data for a bankable feasibility study. A draft environmental impact statement is expected to go out for public review this summer, with a final EIS to be issued around the end of the year. The Montanore mine is expected to employ up to 500 people during construction and 300 to 400 at the mine during full-scale production.
While Orchow said he believes most of the workers at Rock Creek will come from Lincoln County, County Commissioner Rita Windom pointed out that most of the taxes paid on the project will go to Sanders County.
“That’s why from my perspective it’s important to have both mines, because then Sanders County would prosper and Lincoln County would prosper,” Windom said.
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Editor’s Note: See the April 7, 2008 edition of the Kootenai Valley Record for the printed version of this story. The Kootenai Valley Record publishes once a week, on Monday, in Libby, Montana. They are a locally owned community newspaper, located at 403 Mineral Avenue in Libby. For in-county and out-of-county subscription information, call 406-293-2424, or e-mail kvrecord@gmail.com.
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