2009 Montana Mining - Montana Mining Association

Montana Tunnels’ mine
wetlands mitigation project
The Montana Tunnels mine is located
in north Jefferson County, Montana,
approximately 25 miles south of Helena
and ten miles north of Boulder, the county
seat. The mine began operations in
February, 1986 under a permit authorization
from the Montana Department of
State Lands and the Bureau of Land
Management. Montana Tunnels operations
include mining of a polymetallic ore
from a single open pit and a mill processing
facility that produces gold, silver, lead
and zinc concentrates for sale into commerce.
To date, Montana Tunnels has
processed 100 million tons of ore producing
1.5 million ounces of gold, 28 million
ounces of silver, 390 million pounds of
lead and more than one billion pounds of
zinc. The current operating plan will provide
sufficient ore to supply milling operations
into the second quarter of 2009.
In 2004, Montana Tunnels submitted
a major amendment application to the
Department of Environmental Quality
and the Bureau of Land Management that
proposed to mine 30 million tons of additional
ore reserves located deeper within
the existing open pit. Sizeable modifications
are required to carry out the extended
plan of operations; these include
increasing the area and depth of the open
pit mine, extending the waste rock storage
areas and raising the elevation of the tailings
embankment. Alterations to the current
mine plan would also require the
realignment of two stream channels and
the replacement of their impacted wetland
areas. An Environmental Impact
Statement was prepared to analyze the
proposed plan, and the amendment was
approved by the agencies in 2008 with
some modifications.
As a cooperating agency in the mine
expansion permitting process, the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) was
involved in the assessment of wetlands
delineation and mitigation for the amendment.
Wetland inventories were compiled
in the proposed areas of disturbance by
For more information, please contact:
Ed Handl, Division Manager
or Dave Lambrecht, Project Manager
Atlatl - A Division of JBR
121002 Browns Gulch Road
Butte, MT 59701
Tel: 406.723.7980
consultants contracted by Montana
Tunnels. The inventory was reviewed with
the USACE to determine the jurisdictional
qualification of the delineated areas and
to finalize the types of wetlands that
would be affected. The final inventory
Butte-based Atlatl recently merged with Utah-based
JBR Environmental Consultants, Inc. JBR grew up with the
mining industry, having worked on over 100 mine sites throughout
the West. We at Atlatl and JBR are excited to offer our combined
experience to the mining industry throughout Montana.
Atlatl
ENVIRONMENTAL
SCIENTISTS
& ENGINEERS
www.atlatlinc.com
What Can the Atlatl & JBR Team
Do for You Today?
Mine Closure & Reclamation Planning
Soils & Groundwater
Investigation and Remediation
Surface Water & Groundwater
Management
Geoprobe & Mobile Lab Services
SPCC Plans and UST /AST Compliance
Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans
Phase I & II ESAs
Air Quality Permitting
NEPA Compliance
A Division of
www.jbrenv.com
Montana Mining Association www.montanamining.org 55