The Black Butte permitting process has been “slightly delayed”, project developer Sandfire America reported last week, citing new environmental requirements in the US state of Montana.
TSX-V-listed Sandfire America explained that the Black Butte project would be the first new copper mine in the state required to meet a new numeric standard for nitrogen during the growing season.
The company said it had chosen to include a treated water reservoir in its project design that would enable it to meet the new strict Montana non-degradation standards year-round.
This has resulted in a minor delay as additional information had to be included in the environmental impact statement (EIS), a draft of which would now be ready in the winter of 2019.
“While this slight delay in completing the draft EIS is disappointing, we now have significant momentum towards making the Black Butte underground copper mine a reality. The newly-incorporated enhancement further underlines the project’s credentials as a state-of-the-art, twenty-first century mine development,” commented Sandfire America CEO and VP of project development, Rob Scargill.
Further, the company reported that it had held meetings for the feasibility study, led by Denver-based GR Engineering Services, in White Sulphur Springs last week. Mining Plus would prepare the mineral reserve statement and SRK Consulting would prepare the mineral resource statement.
A target completion date is scheduled for the June quarter of 2019.
Sandfire America is a 78.1% subsidiary of Australian miner Sandfire Resources.