The rigorous permitting process in Montana includes an Environmental Impact Study (EIS) and multiple public comment periods. Black Butte Copper successfully reached the end of a 4-year permitting process when the Montana Department of Environment Quality (DEQ) issued a positive Record of Decision (RoD) on April 9, 2020 that will allow the Black Butte Copper to go forward.
In July of 2020, the Company set in place a reclamation surety bond for the first phase of a two phase development process and in August 2020, the Mine Operating Permit (MOP) for Black Butte Copper was issued by the DEQ with construction under the phase 1 development began August 17, 2020. Phase 2 will commence upon resolution of the legal challenges and approval of the board with development will allow completion of mine construction in approximately 24 months and requires posting of an additional reclamation bond.
Sandfire Resources America Inc. takes protecting all water resources seriously. Therefore, careful management is critical to maintaining water quality and quantity as Montana law, through its Mine Operating Permit structure, requires neither water QUALITY nor QUANTITY can be degraded in development, operation, and closure and reclamation of a mine.
To protect the water for quality and quantity, the Black Butte Copper underground mine is designed with the following features:
- In order to keep water from leaving the mine after closure and mixing with stream water, all planned openings or entry points to the mine (including air ventilation and escape routes) are located far above the water table and the tunnel entry location was specifically chosen because it is almost 200 feet above the water level.
- All ground water from the mine and surface water from precipitation will be collected, monitored, tested, and treated before being placed back into the ground water system through an underground infiltration system buried 6-8 ft. below the surface. There is zero discharge to surface waters. Water temperature will also be monitored and maintained through this system.
- A Reverse Osmosis (RO) water treatment plant will be constructed on-site for the duration of the mining operation and will remain there for as long as it is needed.
Making sure that community concerns are always part of the Black Butte Copper discussion has led the Company to fund the creation of an independent, non-profit citizens group to champion the long term environmental, culture, and economic interests of Meagher county residents called the Meagher County Stewardship Council (MCSC). MCSC formed in 2018 with community leaders from both sides of the mine issue to ensure that the mining project never compromises the core values of watershed conservation and community vitality.
MCSC is currently negotiating with the Company a long-term Community Benefits Agreement that will be binding on both parties and make sure that both entities work together through local representation regardless of Company ownership. They expect completion of the agreement in 2023.
Over the years of baseline testing and permitting, the Company has earned the support of the local community of White Sulphur Springs (WSS) and Meagher County for Black Butte Copper by being transparent and supportive of community needs. If you travel to WSS you will see signs in nearly every business in town supporting the project and the Meagher County Commissioners have passed positive resolutions for the project as well as sent letters of support.
The Company prioritizes making sure there is continued focus on our local communities by addressing concerns upfront and ensuring that such concerns are always dealt with transparently and in the community’s best interest.
Protecting ecological system integrity is a top priority of the Company for ground leased by Black Butte Copper. The cattle ranchers from whom Black Butte Copper leases land highly value the health of their rangeland and its protection from noxious weeds. If not addressed, noxious weeds can damage the economic stability and environmental integrity of an ecosystem. Across the nation, successful management of these landscapes require an aggressive noxious weed management plan. To ensure proper noxious weed management, the Company contracts specialists to identify non-native weed locations and to complete a specified spray program to control and if possible, eliminate noxious weeds. In addition, the noxious weed team completes a yearly survey and develops an annual plan for future monitoring and follow-up activities to control and eliminate noxious weeds.
Yes, two Montanans sit on the Board of Directors, one from White Sulphur Springs and one from Helena. A third board member, our CEO, lives in White Sulphur Springs making it so three out of five board members are Montana based. The other two board members are from Sandfire Resources Australia who are an 87% shareholder of the publicly traded company Sandfire Resources American Inc., who has 100% ownership of the U.S. subsidiary, Tintina Montana Inc.
In 2020 the Mine Operating Permit (MOP) for Black Butte Copper was issued by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the company set in place a reclamation bond for the first phase of a two-phase development process. Construction under the Phase 1 development plan began in August of 2020 and surface work commenced with a few Phase 1 projects left to be completed.. Phase 2 development will occur after all legal challenges to the project are resoluved and the Board gives the green light to go forward. Completion of mine construction will take approximately 24 months.
Yes, Black Butte Copper involves only underground mine accessed by a tunnel well outside the Sheep Creek Valley. One of the three vent raises needed for air circulation underground will serve as a secondary escapeway. There will never be any mining from an “open pit”, dramatically reducing our environmental footprint and ensuring continuation of historical uses of the land including cattle grazing and outdoor recreation.
Black Butte Copper will always be an underground mine for the following reasons:
- We have long term contractual agreements with the rancher landowners that there will never be any open pit mining on their property.
- We have signed an agreement with our Meagher County Stewardship Council that there will never be any open pit mining within the six townships that include Black Butte Copper.
- These types of copper deposits are best accessed underground as they are very deep.
- It is the philosophy of our company that only underground mining fits this environment to properly protect it.
The underground mine tunnel entrance will be well outside of the Sheep Creek Valley and will form the main haulage way for equipment and workers between the surface and the underground mine development. It will be developed using the drill and blast method. Drill jumbos (underground mechanized drilling machines) will drill 1.75in diameter holes which will be loaded with explosives and then blasted. The broken rock (called muck) will be removed, the roof will be stabilized by bolting, and then the process will begin again. Each cycle advances the decline approximately 14 feet. As currently planned, the decline will be approximately 17ft X 17ft.
Once the mined rock is taken from a mine, it is ground to a fine powder in a mill located onsite. There, the copper mineral (chalcopyrite) is separated from the remainder of the rock into a concentrate for shipping. The remaining finely ground rock is called tailings.