Forest Services approves Cabinet Mountains mine exploration 

The U.S. Forest Service this week gave the final green light to Hecla Mining Company for the Libby Exploration Project. This enables Hecla to begin surveying the silver and copper ore in an old mine shaft 20 miles south of Libby.

Hecla’s Director of Government Affairs, Mike Satre says that's good news.

"Hecla was very pleased that the U.S. Forest Service finished the environmental assessment process and found that there will be no significant impact and is going to allow Hecla to proceed with exploration activities," he says.

Satre says the next step is dewatering parts of the existing 2.5 mile underground shaft, called an adit. The company plans to then extend the adit by almost a mile.

Hecla has been trying to get a mining operation up and running at this site for more than a decade. It faced strong opposition from local environmental groups who worry about water pollution, increased road traffic and human disturbances that would harm federally protected species like grizzly bears and bull trout.

Ben Catton is with the Montana Environmental Information Center. He says dewatering could disturb groundwater resources, and he’s worried about the consequences of mining underneath the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness.

"You cannot contain the impacts of tunneling miles under the surface, pumping out millions of gallons of water, removing hundreds of thousands of cubic yards of rock from a mountain, and pretend the impacts of those kinds of actions are going to stay contained."

Catton says the Forest Service rushed the process, and did not adequately assess the threats posed by a potential future mine.

Hecla expects the exploration project to create as many as 30 new jobs in the area. Catton fears this project could result in another boom and bust scenario where the community of Libby is left hanging.