Hard Rock Mining Bureau

Amendment 002
On February 27, 2020, GCC Three Forks, LLC, Geyser Site, filed an application with the Department of Environmental Quality for an amendment to Operating Permit No. 00184. The site is approximately 6.5 miles southeast of Geyser, MT near Highway 87. The amendment would authorize the quarrying of gypsum on Department of Natural Resource and Conservation (DNRC) land in Sections 2, 3, 10 and 11, Township 16 North, Range 10 East. The proposed amendment area would cover a total of 377 acres. About 45 acres would be disturbed, in addition to the 37 acres already permitted for disturbance over the life of mine. The mining allowed under the amendment is estimated to add about three years to the life of mine

Amendment 001
On February 27, 2020, Venture Stone, LLC (Venture Stone) filed an application for Amendment (001) with the Department of Environmental Quality to add five new rock collecting sites to the operating permit which currently has five rock collecting sites and one processing site. Venture Stone is a decorative rock picking operation which collects surface minerals from slopes and hillsides throughout Cascade County, Montana, generally 13 miles south and west of Great Falls.

Amendment 006
On March 29, 2018, Barretts Minerals, Inc. - Regal Mine (Regal) submitted to the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) an application to amend Hard Rock Mining Operating Permit No. 00013.  The Regal Mine is located in Madison and Beaverhead Counties, approximately 11 miles east of Dillon, MT in Sections 20, 34, and 35, Township 7 South, Range 7 West and Sections 2 and 3, Township 8 South, Range 7 West.
If approved, the amendment   would allow the Regal Mine to expand the existing open pit talc mine.  The permit boundary would increase from 243 to 380 acres.  The expansion would include, in part, a pit expansion of 45 acres and a waste rock dump expansion of 172 acres, some of which are already within the permit boundary.
The expansion would extend the mine life by approximately six years.  Eight million cubic yards of waste rock and one-half million cubic yards of talc ore would be produced.

Amendment 003
The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) received an amendment application from Sibanye Stillwater Mining Company on December 4, 2017, proposing to expand the impoundment at the East Boulder mine. The Sibanye Stillwater Mining Company operates this mine under Operating Permit No. 00149. The mine is located in portions of Sections 11, 19, 20, 20, 26-29, and 33-35 in Township 4 South, Range 13 East and Sections 9, 10, 16, 17, 19, 20, and 21 in Township 3 South, Range 13 East in Sweet Grass County. 

If approved, the proposed amendment would allow a “raise” of the currently permitted tailings impoundment.  The proposed amendment would raise the currently approved Stage 5 lift an additional fourteen feet in elevation and add 1.8 million cubic yards of tailings capacity. The amendment would add approximately 6.4 acres to the currently permitted disturbance area for a total of about 335 acres of disturbance.
 

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Montana Limestone Resources, LLC (MLR) filed an application with the Department of Environmental Quality for a Hard Rock Mining Operating Permit. If approved, the operating permit would authorize the quarrying of limestone in portions of Sections 26, 27, 34 and 35 in Township 11 North, Range 13 West. The proposed quarry would be located on private land with a portion of the proposed access road on State land. The site is located approximately 2.5 miles west of Drummond, MT near highway Interstate 90. The operating permit would cover a total of 546 acres. About 97 acres would be disturbed over the next five years, with about 174 acres to be disturbed over the life of mine, which is estimated to be about 50 years. The quarry would be mined sequentially, with waste rock placed in the pit after the initial pit is opened, leaving only the final pit without backfill. MLR would use trucks and heavy equipment to remove the limestone.

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On December 15, 2015, Tintina Montana Inc (Tintina) submitted a Hard Rock Mining Operating Permit Application to the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for a proposed underground copper mine. The proposed mine would be located on private land approximately 15 miles north of White Sulphur Springs, MT, in Meagher County (in portions of the SE ¼ of Section 24, the NE ¼, SE ¼ and SW ¼ of Section 25, Section 36, Township 12N, Range 6E and portions of the SW ¼ of Section 29, the NW 1/4, and the S ½ of Section 30, Section 31, and the NW ¼ of Section 32, Township 12N, Range 7E). If approved, ore obtained from underground would be milled on site using a grinding/flotation process and producing approximately 440 tons of concentrate per day. Approximately 45% of the produced tailings would be mixed with cement and binder agents, creating a paste, and used as backfill in the underground mine. The remaining 55% of tailings would be mixed with cement and binders and stored in a lined impoundment. Approximately 285 acres would be disturbed at the site. Access to the proposed mine site would be by way of public roads and highways. The mine life is projected to be nineteen years.

On February 1, 2019, an application for a Hard Rock Mining Operating Permit for Huppert Brothers Construction, Inc, (Huppert) in Yellowstone County was submitted to the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). Huppert filed the application with DEQ for an operating permit under the Metal Mine Reclamation Act. If approved, the operating permit would authorize the quarrying of decorative landscape and sandstone rock. The proposed quarry sites are located about eight miles southeast of Laurel, MT in Section 24, Township 3 South, Range 24 East, and Section 30, Township 3 South, Range 24 East in Yellowstone County. Huppert currently quarries rock in these locations, but needs an operating permit to continue operations due to the proposed expansion of the site. Huppert proposes to disturb approximately 87 total acres. The site is located on private land.

On October 9, 2019, an application for a Hard Rock Mining Operating Permit was submitted by Bullock Contracting LLC (Bullock) for a site located in Lewis and Clark County. Bullock filed the application with the Department of Environmental Quality for an operating permit under the Metal Mine Reclamation Act. If approved, the operating permit would authorize the quarrying of crushed rock. The proposed quarry site is located about 13 miles northeast of Helena, MT in Section 23, Township 11 North, Range 2 West, in Lewis and Clark County near Devil’s Elbow Recreation Area. Bullock currently quarries rock at this location, but needs an operating permit to continue operations due to the proposed expansion of the site. Bullock proposes to disturb approximately 21 total acres. The site is on private land.