Butte grew as an early urban industrial center in the Rocky Mountain West to become legend as The Mining City. Montana Resources, one of The Washington Companies, has operated in Butte since 1985, continuing the mining tradition here. We are proud to be a Montana company and accordingly value our beautiful environment and our friendly communities.
Montana Resources operates an open pit copper and molybdenum mine in Butte, Montana. The operation comprises the Continental mine, crushers and a concentrator facility where tons of raw ore are processed into high-quality metal concentrates. We serve an international market for these important metals.
Montana Resources Permit for Continued Mining Summary
Montana Resources is seeking an amendment to its operating permit to allow for mining to continue at the Continental Pit site for an additional 20 years, until 2040. The purpose of Amendment 10 to Operating Permit 030A, being submitted to the State of Montana, Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), is to only increase the permitted tailings embankment level to 6,500 feet. MR will be working with DEQ throughout the entire permitting process, which is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2016 and conclude in the second quarter of 2018. Construction of the embankment is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2019.
The DEQ permitting process includes a full environmental analysis of the impoundment design; review of the impoundment design by an independent panel of experts and compliance with all of Montana’s public hearing requirements. The statutes governing the permitting process can be accessed at: Montana Code Annotated 82-4-375 through 82-4-381 . For a more thorough understanding of the project, please download our Powerpoint presentation.