Tag: Smith River Protection

On March 14, 2016, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality submitted their first deficiency notice on Tintina’s Mine Operating Permit application.

Tom Livers, DEQ Director said, “The most significant pieces are the couple of pieces where they’re still working on it so we don’t have it in the application they submitted. All the geochemistry work and the ground water model. Both of those are critical pieces for us to have to be able to truly assess impacts.”

Once DEQ receives a response, the review period is only 30 days, as opposed to 90 days for the initial review. The shorter window for review causes concern for DEQ.

“It’s a little tighter, that’s why it’s a little concerning for us. We’ve got these big missing pieces. We won’t have much time once we get those pieces in, in any subsequent cycles to look at them,” Livers said.

Read the March 15 KTVH article on the deficiency findings or the technical deficiency notice released by the DEQ.

Montana Trout Unlimited presents a review of the mine permit application Tintina Resources submitted December 15, 2015 to the Department of Environmental Quality . The review was conducted by outside professional consultants Montana TU retained.

The consultants’ findings uncovered significant shortcomings in items such as operation descriptions as well as data completeness and quality for items such as water rights, groundwater characterization, fisheries, degradation potential of cemented paste tailings and mine discharge.
Please click on the links following each experts name and position, for their complete review:

•  Final completeness summary
• Jim Kuipers, PE, Kuipers and Associates, Wisdom, Montana: Technical Review
• Kendra Zamzow, PhD, CSP2, geochemist, Bozeman, Montana and Chickaloon, Alaska: Geochemistry and water treatment
• Ken Knudson, MA, consulting aquatic ecologist, Helena, Montana: Aquatic and fisheries review
• Tom Myers, PhD, consulting, hydrologist/geohydrologist, Reno, Nevada: Hydrology review

These consultants were further advised by Dave Chambers, PhD, president, CSP2, geophysicist, Bozeman, Montana.

For further questions please contact David Brooks, [email protected], or Colin Cooney, [email protected]

The red circle is the current Black Butte project. All of the other colored areas are federal mine claims or private leases owned by the company. You can see what their real plan is, turn this area into a 50+ year mining district right by the Smith River.

A Bozeman Chronicle guest columnist asks if Sheep Creek and the Smith River are really places you want to open a copper mine.

Read a letter sent to Governor Steve Bullock signed by over 45 businesses and representatives of Montana’s fly-fishing industry and others who share a grave concern regarding the proposed mine in the headwaters of the Smith River. Their plea is to establish a zero-risk threshold and closely scrutinize every detail of the upcoming mine proposal for its effects on water, wildlife, fish and the sustainable recreational economy the Smith river supports.

Canadian/Australian mine company Tintina Resources has submitted their application for a mine permit. They are going forward with their plan to mine next to and underneath Sheep Creek, the main and most vital tributary to the Smith River in Montana!!

Don’t let another foreign owned mine company ruin our natural resources. Let your voice be heard!

Let Gov. Steve Bullock and DEQ Director Tom Livers know this mine is a horrible idea and not worth risking the health of the Smith River.

Gov. Bullock- [email protected]

Tom Livers- [email protected]