Environmental groups weigh in on Stibnite Gold Project

Environmental groups said Friday that an open pit gold mine near the South Fork of the Salmon River in central Idaho will harm threatened fish species, violate tribal treaty rights and degrade water quality.

“The Stibnite Gold Project risks irreversible harm to one of the nation’s most cherished and ecologically important river ecosystems,” said Zack Waterman, Northern Rockies Conservation Director for American Rivers. “Given the extraordinary scale and location of the proposed development, it’s unacceptable that the (Final Environmental Impact Statement) only considers the mine applicant’s proposed mine plan and a no-action alternative.”

The Payette National Forest released a final environmental impact statement detailing the potential impacts of the mining and also published its draft approval of the project that has been on the drawing board for more than a decade. Both documents were published Friday but the agency announced the decision to approve the mining plan a day earlier.

It’s a milestone win for Perpetua Resources, the company that intends to reopen and expand the historic but long dormant gold, silver and antimony mine near the tiny enclave of Yellow Pine. The company says the mine will employ hundreds and has the potential to yield 4.8 million ounces of gold and 148 million pounds of antimony — a mineral used in munitions and deemed to have national security significance.

Its proposal, which has been under review for eight years, includes a plan to clean up pollution from past mining at the site where gold and other minerals have been extracted dating back to the 1930s.

The mine in the Stibnite District and adjacent to the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness Area is so remote that it will include employee housing at the site and require a new road that will cut through two roadless areas.

Conservation advocates say the potential profits that mining may bring are not worth the potential to harm habitat for threatened spring chinook, steelhead and bull trout, degrade water quality, disrupt tribal treaty rights and impact human health.

“We are particularly concerned about increased water temperatures in watersheds that are home to Endangered Species Act-protected salmon, steelhead, and bull trout,” said Nick Kunath, conservation director for Idaho Rivers United in a news release. “We know that streamflows in the (East Fork of the South Fork Salmon River) watershed will be reduced by up to 30%, and the removal of riparian shading will increase predicted stream temperatures by up to 6.6° C for up to 100 years. None of which accounts for the additional impacts of climate change.”

Members of Nez Perce Tribe continue to fish for chinook in the South Fork Salmon River and the tribe’s Department of Fisheries Resources Management spends about $3 million per year working to restore fish habitat in the drainage. The tribe opposes the mine. Shannon Wheeler, chairperson of the Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee acknowledged the release of the documents that pave the way for the mine to open and said in a message to the Tribune that the tribe plans to share its concerns with the Forest Service in “government to government consultation.”

The agency said its approval includes mitigation measures meant to soften the environmental impact of the mining. Forest Service spokesperson Wade Muehlhof said in an email to the Tribune that those measures include things like an independent tailings review board that will ensure mine waste storage at the site meets standards outlined in the final environmental impact statement.

During construction of the mine, the company will be allowed to conduct exploratory activity to evaluate the potential to expand the mine beyond the proposed boundary, about 3,200 acres. Mining outside of the area would require supplemental permitting.

The mine, according to the approved plan, will be in operation for 20 to 25 years, including three years of construction, 15 years of mining, 17 years of exploration and five years to close the mine and reclaim the area. Some of the phases will overlap.

The documents are available at bit.ly/4gd4774. Those who have previously submitted comments on them have 45 days to lodge formal objections.

Barker may be contacted at ebarker@lmtribune.com. or at (208) 848-2273. Follow him on Twitter @ezebarker.