But the state of Idaho disagreed with the proposal, and the site was not listed, according to the agency’s website. In 2001, that agency proposed listing the site as a Superfund Site, a designation used to flag contaminated areas and fund their cleanup. The footprint of the original site is about 3,000 acres, according to the U.S. That said, the area is not pristine wilderness due to the impact of the original mine, Thrower said. The mine would be the only domestic production site of antimony, Lyon said in an email.īut environmental groups question the viability of the site’s antimony for such projects, and are concerned that mining and its associated infrastructure will severely degrade the ecosystem of the South Fork Salmon River and its surroundings. The Stibnite Gold Project is the U.S.’s chance to take control of its clean energy future, Perpetua Resources’s website says. Perpetua Resources states on its website that the metal “ plays an important role in the transition to clean energy.” Russia, China, and Tajikistan collectively have over 90% of the world’s antimony reserves, the site says. More recently, the metal has been used to make liquid metal batteries, which can be used for storing energy from solar and wind projects, Lyon said. TRIBAL, ENVIRONMENTAL, RECREATIONAL, ECONOMIC RESOURCES AT STAKEĪntimony is a metal used in alloys to make lead batteries, and is also used to make products such as glass and ceramics, according to. “And we believe that the changes submitted to the Forest Service that will be out for public review (in August) will put that vision into reality.” “We built this project on the vision that responsible mining production can restore the site, and that is how we designed our plan,” Lyon said. capture a share of a mineral used in batteries that store renewable energy. “It’s just the sensitivity of all of these natural resources … the high value for recreation, the high value of the whole ecosystem in this watershed … they just don’t think the mine should go there,” Thrower said.Ī supplemental environmental impact statement, which will be open to public comment, is due out from the Forest Service in August, Thrower said.īut Perpetua Resources Vice President of External Affairs Mckinsey Lyon says the project is a huge opportunity to restore an area that has been degraded for generations, while helping the U.S. Though Perpetua Resources describes plans to restore the site, too, Valley County stakeholders are questioning the impact of a mine on the watershed and the local economy. Environmental Protection Agency has invested heavily in restoring the area around the mine, as has the Nez Perce Tribe, whose historic lands encompass the site, she said. Though antimony and gold were harvested from the site between 1900 and the 1990s, the east fork of the south fork of the Salmon River, where the mine is situated is home to species such as chinook, steelhead, westslope cutthroat trout, and bull trout, which is a unique combination even in Idaho, Thrower said. The subsidiary of a Canadian company once called Midas Gold, Perpetua Resources changed names in 2021 and relocated its headquarters to Boise, according to a public relations firm.
The company Perpetua Resources proposed the project. The project would affect over 3,000 acres, 75% of which is on public lands, said Julie Thrower, attorney for the environmental organization Save the South Fork Salmon. Local stakeholders have kept apprised of developments in the proposed Stibnite Gold Project, which would create an open pit antimony and gold mine at the site of an old antimony mine east of Yellow Pine. The mining company, Perpetua Resources, has proposed the building of an open pit antimony and gold mine at the site of an old antimony. Snow covers the mountain tops in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness near McCall on Wednesday, June 15. Nestled in the mountains due east of McCall, about 40 miles as the crow flies, a mining company is planning a venture adjacent to the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness. MCCALL - Valley County is like the greater backyard of the Treasure Valley - when it’s time for outside adventure, no matter the season, residents of the Treasure Valley often flock north to recreate in Valley County’s mountains, forests, lakes and rivers.Ī new project could bring change to the environment and economy of Valley County.