Tintina Resources, a Montana startup company headed by mining industry veterans, hopes to begin construction of its proposed Black Butte underground copper mine near White Sulphur Springs in Meagher County, Montana, in late 2018, a company official said Wednesday.
If all goes well, the mine could begin production in 2020, turning out about 400 st/day of copper concentrate, Nancy Schlepp, vice president of communications for the White Sulphur Springs-based company, told S&P Global Platts in an interview.
Black Butte is expected to have a 14-year life, she added.
Plans for the mine gained pace this week when the Montana Department of Environmental Quality deemed the company's application for Black Butte "complete."
Now, the state agency will develop a comprehensive environmental impact study for the project, whose cost has not been disclosed.
The study is expected to last about a year, meaning Tintina could learn the results in the summer of 2018.
In addition, the company is required to obtain other state operating permits, including a Montana pollution discharge elimination system permit, an air quality permit and a public water supply permit.
Tintina also needs a Section 404 Clean Water Act permit from the US Army Corps of Engineers, and that permitting process is underway.
Schlepp said it is too early to determine where Black Butte's copper will be sold.
Tintina is headed by CEO John Shanahan, a former CEO of Revlett Mining, and Senior Vice President Jerry Zieg, who worked for Cominco American for 24 years.
Shanahan said in a statement the company's objective is "very clear, to responsibly develop this project and provide both economic opportunity and complete protection of the environment. This has been a long and involved process and we now can clearly demonstrate that the development and operation of this state-of-the-art project meets and exceeds all state rules and regulations."
Critics of the project are concerned about its potential impact on the Smith River in Meagher County, which is popular for trout fishing.
