Objections Filed Against Stibnite Gold Mine, CuMo Exploration Project Environmental Reviews, Draft Approvals 

In recent weeks, Advocates for the West and our partners compiled and submitted formal objections against two separate—and significantly flawed—environmental reviews and draft approvals of mining activity in Idaho.

Stibnite Gold Mine

On October 18, a coalition of Advocates for the West’s conservation partners submitted objections to the final Environmental Impact Statement and draft Record of Decision (ROD) for the Stibnite Gold Mine—a massive gold mine proposed in the headwaters of the South Fork Salmon River watershed east of McCall, Idaho. On September 6, the Forest Service released the final environmental review and draft ROD to move forward with the mine, despite the mine plan remaining significantly flawed, threatening Tribal interests, clean air, clean water, public health, fish and wildlife, and world-class recreation.

Mining company Perpetua Resources proposes constructing three open pit mines and a towering mine waste dam. The proposed Yellow Pine pit would extend more than 700 feet beneath the riverbed of the East Fork South Fork Salmon River, requiring the river to be rerouted through a concrete tunnel during mining activities until the pit is eventually backfilled with mine waste.

The project also requires constructing an industrial ore-processing facility, burying pristine bull trout habitat beneath 100 million tons of toxic mine tailings, building miles of new access roads and electrical transmission lines through inventoried roadless areas, and providing on-site housing and services for hundreds of workers.

Advocates for the West partnered with the coalition of conservation groups and experts to help draft the objections, submitted by Save the South Fork Salmon, Idaho Conservation League, Idaho Rivers United, American Rivers, Earthworks, Center for Biological Diversity, Winter Wildlands Alliance, and American Whitewater.

Advocates for the West also has two other active cases challenging aspects of the proposed Stibnite Gold Mine, including Perpetua’s air pollution permit and Clean Water Act Section 401 water quality certification.

CuMo Mine Exploration Project

On November 4, another coalition of Advocates for the West’s conservation partners—including the Idaho Conservation League, Idaho Rivers United, Idaho Chapter of the Sierra Club, and Golden Eagle Audubon Society—submitted objections to final Environmental Assessment, draft Decision Notice, and Finding of No Significant Impact for the CuMo Mine Exploration Project in the headwaters of the Boise River. Advocates for the West partnered with the conservation groups to draft the objections.

Idaho Copper Corporation is seeking approval from the Forest Service to construct up to eight miles of new roads, clear 122 drill pads, and drill 250 exploration holes on National Forest lands near Grimes Creek.

For more than a decade, variations of the project have failed to pass legal muster in lawsuits filed by Advocates for the West. A federal court struck down the project in 2012 because the Forest Service failed to adequately assess the risks that extensive underground drilling could contaminate groundwater. The court struck it down again in 2016 because of the project’s threats to Sacajawea’s bitterroot.

Idaho Copper, whose majority owner has struggled financially in recent years, hopes to find sufficient copper and molybdenum to excavate one of the largest open-pit accessible molybdenum mines in the world—all within the Boise River watershed.

At an April 2, 2024 sheriff’s sale, Canada-based Multi-Metal Development’s shares, which represented 56% of the outstanding shares in Idaho Copper, were sold to Hong Kong-based International Energy & Mineral Resources Investment Company Limited. As a result of this sale, there are concerns regarding the project’s future management and environmental oversight.