Stibnite Gold Project Approval

February 18, 2025 — Advocates for the West and our partners sued the U.S. Forest Service for its approval of the Stibnite Gold Project, an open-pit cyanide leach gold mine in Idaho’s Salmon River Mountains that would jeopardize public health and clean water, harm threatened species, and permanently scar thousands of acres of public land in the headwaters of the South Fork Salmon River.

Mining company Perpetua Resources’ proposed mine site is 45 air miles from McCall, Idaho, adjacent to the Frank Church–River of No Return Wilderness Area and is within the homelands of the Nez Perce Tribe. The mine plan doubles the size of the existing disturbance to 3,265 acres—the equivalent of nearly 2,500 football fields—and entails excavating three massive open pits. It would create 280 million tons of waste rock and include constructing a 475-foot tall, 120-million-ton tailings storage facility—more than 1.5 times taller than the Statue of Liberty. One of the open pits would extend more than 720 feet beneath the riverbed of the East Fork South Fork Salmon River.

During a 45-day objection period, conservation groups and others submitted 130 substantive administrative objections to the Forest Service’s Final Record of Decision highlighting significant flaws in the mine plan. The approved version fails to address the water quality and public health concerns raised and fails to protect Idaho’s environment and communities from the negative impacts of mining.

The lawsuit is also against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service for violating the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by failing to protect threatened Chinook salmon, steelhead, bull trout, wolverine, and whitebark pine from the mine. The South Fork Salmon River watershed is a cornerstone of efforts to restore ESA-protected Chinook salmon, steelhead, and bull trout. According to the Forest Service, the South Fork Salmon River contains the “most important remaining habitat for summer Chinook salmon in the Columbia River basin.”

Despite the issuance of the Final Record of Decision, the project cannot be implemented until several additional key steps are completed. This includes approval from the Forest Service on additional revisions to Perpetua’s Plan of Operations, acceptance of reclamation cost estimates, and review of financial assurances. Also, other federal and state permits have not yet been issued, and several of the draft permits do not sufficiently protect public health and the environment.

In addition to Advocates for the West, plaintiff conservation groups are represented by Roger Flynn of the Western Mining Action Project, Julia Thrower of Mountain Top Law, and the Center for Biological Diversity.