Tintina Resources submitted on December 15, 2015 an application with the Department of Environmental Quality for a Mine Operating Permit for an underground copper and related minerals mine in Meagher County in west-central Montana.
Known as the Johnny Lee deposits, the proposed mine is expected to produce copper concentrate as well as cobalt and silver. The proposed mine is approximately 20 miles north of White Sulphur Springs, the Meagher County seat, and approximately 100 miles south of Great Falls. The deposits lie within the Belt Supergroup, an extensive sedimentary formation that extends from central Montana into northern Idaho.
In 2010, Tintina (formerly Mantra Alaska Exploration) applied for an exploration license to conduct core drilling on the Black Butte Project. This work was approved under Exploration License #00710 and bonded accordingly. Since then, several rounds of core drilling have been conducted under amendments to the license and have further defined the extent of the mineralization in the project area. The drill holes have also been used for an aquifer pump test which provided hydrologic information of the Belt Supergroup rocks in which the deposits are hosted.
In February 2015, DEQ approved drilling of 15-20 core sites to collect geotechnical and hydrologic data for the Prefeasibility Study and subsequent submission of a Mine Operating Permit application. In March, 2015, DEQ received a proposal to deepen existing water well PW-6 to collect water level information and water quality samples.
All of the work Tintina is currently permitted and bonded for is available at DEQ's Hard Rock website. Tintina also has an Air Quality Permit with DEQ.