Our Plan for the Future
We can restore the site.
For the past five years, we have studied the economic and environmental opportunities at Stibnite and gathered ideas from the community. Now, we have a plan for the future of the Stibnite Gold Project. Our plan is different because we started with the idea that mining and the environment can work hand in hand. We know we can take an area mined for 100 years and use the mineral resources there today to fund the restoration the environment desperately needs.
The U.S. Forest Service has deemed our plan complete. Now, we are entering into the formal permitting process. You can read more about it here.
Restore the Site
For us, “restore the site” means breathing new life into a historic mining district. We have the opportunity to take an area damaged by 100 years of mining and improve the environment including water quality, wildlife habitat, fisheries and vegetation, while also bringing new jobs to the community and helping grow Idaho’s economy.
The Stibnite Gold Project is unlike any other mining project. We have located a world-class deposit of gold and antimony in an area in need of serious environmental repair. Our project can help the environment and leave the area better than it is today.
We can correct the damage of the past.
The Stibnite Gold Project site has a long history of mining. A lot has changed since the first miners found the site more than a century ago. Today, we understand the environmental sensitivities of the area and have increasingly high standards guiding our work. In fact, with restoration as our goal, we can use mining to rewrite the site’s legacy.
Permitting A Modern Mine
PLAN OF RESTORATION AND OPERATIONS
Below are the chapters of the Plan of Restoration and Operations that we delivered to the U.S. Forest Service in 2016. The project is currently under review and refinement as required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and a draft Environmental Impact Statement is on schedule to be released for public review by the end of 2019. You can learn more about the permitting process here.
If you have any questions or would like to talk about our plans we would be more than happy to meet with you. Please reach us at community@midasgoldinc.com.
Chapter 1, Introduction
Chapter 2, Midas Gold’s Core Values
Chapter 3, Socioeconomics and Workforce Requirements
Chapter 4, Past Mining and Mining Related Legacy Issues
Chapter 5, Restoration and Mitigation
Chapter 6, Environmental Protection
Chapter 7, Operations: Offsite Infrastructure
Chapter 8, Operations: Site Preparation and Onsite Infrastructure h
Chapter 9, Operations: Surface Mining
Chapter 10, Operations: Ore Processing
Chapter 11, Operations: Thickened Tailings Management
Chapter 12, Operations: Project Logistics and Materials Handling
Chapter 13, Operations: Exploration
Chapter 14, Restoration, Closure and Reclamation
Chapter 15, Monitoring
Chapter 16, References
Chapter 17, Acronyms, Glossary and Scientific Terminology
The Project Timeline
To ensure the Stibnite Gold Project benefits the environment and the community, and before any mining can begin, we will spend years planning, consulting the community and working with state and federal regulators. The regulatory process includes obtaining more than 50 permits, licenses and approvals. For every authorization we receive, we must meet or exceed strict standards and public input is critical to the process.
Stay informed on the permitting process and have your voice heard by visiting the U.S. Forest Service website here.
Exploration
During exploration, our goal was to determine if the project would be economically, environmentally and socially feasible. It is.
We identified the site as a world-class source of gold and antimony.
We dedicated years to studying the environmental needs of the site and engaging community members and stakeholder groups. We have gathered their ideas, listened to concerns and found solutions. We took this process very seriously and will continue to have community advisory groups and host regular town hall meetings.
Pre-Feasibility Study
In 2014, we released our Pre-Feasibility Study, which compiled all of our research to date, outlined the best ideas for mining the site and areas that needed further investigation. Since then, we’ve identified areas of improvement and additional points to research.
You can read an executive summary of our
Pre-Feasibility Study .
Plan of Restoration and Operations
A Plan of Restoration and Operations has been prepared and provided to the U.S. Forest Service. This comprehensive plan outlines how we will mine the Stibnite Gold Project site and restore the area.
You can view our plan summary here or visit the U.S. Forest Service website here.
We are hereEnvironmental Impact Statement
The Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is the result of an environmental review of the Plan of Operations conducted by the U.S. Forest Service to assess the impacts and benefits of the Stibnite Gold Project. The agency will release the EIS, along with its Record of Decision, after a thorough technical review and considering public input.
Permitting
After we receive the EIS and a positive Record of Decision from the U.S. Forest Service, we must then earn more than 50 permits, licenses, approvals and authorizations from federal, state and local agencies.
Construction
This is the time when we will clean up the impacts from historical mining activity. We anticipate construction will take three years and employ 400 people directly and also indirectly create another 300 jobs in the community.
Before construction, we will set aside millions of dollars in a trust for reclamation of the site.
Mining
Once construction is complete, we anticipate the mine will operate for at least 12 years and employ up to 500 individuals and also support the creation of another 500 jobs in the community. During mining, we expect to recover gold and antimony.
Before any mining begins, our project design will ensure we repair many areas damaged decades ago.
Reclamation
Substantial repair of historical impacts will occur alongside construction and mining, but completely restoring the site will take time. Our reclamation plan will include ongoing work during mining, then dismantling the buildings on site, restoring the natural habitat and monitoring and protecting the health of the area for years after mining has ended. We will put aside the necessary financial resources in a trust to make sure reclamation is complete.
History
The Stibnite Gold Project site is located in one of the most historic mining districts in all of Idaho. It has been home to thousands of miners, operated by several different companies and was critical to the U.S. war effort in the 1940s and 1950s. After many decades of mining, Stibnite is still rich with minerals but also in much need of environmental repair.
See Stibnite's history in the photos below.
1930
1930 Miners flocked to the region to work for the multiple companies operating in the Stibnite-Yellow Pine mining district.
1950
1950 The town of Stibnite grew significantly when the US Government declared antimony as a critical mineral for the WWII effort.
1960
1960 After the war years, many of the original structures were dismantled and people moved out of Stibnite.
1965
1965 From 1959 to 1965 an estimated 30,000 tons of sediment erode into the Salmon River.
1996
1996 Active mining restarted in the 1970s and continued sporadically until the 1990s.
2015
2015 We are currently studying Stibnite's environmental needs to develop the best plan for mining and restoration.
1930
1930 Miners flocked to the region to work for the multiple companies operating in the Stibnite-Yellow Pine mining district.
1950
1950 The town of Stibnite grew significantly when the US Government declared antimony as a critical mineral for the WWII effort.
1960
1960 After the war years, many of the original structures were dismantled and people moved out of Stibnite.
1965
1965 From 1959 to 1965 an estimated 30,000 tons of sediment erode into the Salmon River.
1996
1996 Active mining restarted in the 1970s and continued sporadically until the 1990s.
2015
2015 We are currently studying Stibnite's environmental needs to develop the best plan for mining and restoration.
A look back at Stibnite
Geology
The geology of Idaho is unique and it has taken millions of years to create our state’s multiple mineral-rich regions.
The Stibnite Gold Project area sits atop the Idaho Batholith, one of the signature features of Idaho’s unique geology. The Idaho Batholith is nearly 14,000 square miles of granite, tracing its roots back to the collision of the oceanic plate and the North American plate around 100 million years ago in the the age of dinosaurs. Continental drift pushed the denser oceanic plate under the North American plate, where immense heat, pressure and superheated water caused the oceanic plate rocks to melt, rise and then slowly cool, creating the vast expanse of crystalline granite underneath most of central Idaho.
Some 50 million years later, an enormous volcanic complex (as big as the Yellowstone Park volcanic complex) erupted through the granite and left behind volcanic ash, lavas and crystalline rocks. The volcanic activity pumped hot fluids into the cracks and pores of the Idaho Batholith – very much like what we see happening in the famous geothermal pools and geysers of Yellowstone Park today. These hot fluids contained gold, silver, antimony and sulfur which, as the waters cooled, left behind minerals like pyrite (containing gold), stibnite (containing antimony) and scheelite (containing tungsten). The partnership of the Idaho Batholith cooling and interacting with volcanic forces, and mineral-rich fluids, created a geologic region that has captured the attention and imagination of geologists and prospectors for more than a 100 years.
From our exploration of the Stibnite Gold Project area, it is clear that geologic processes over tens of millions of years created an incredibly mineral-rich resource in Idaho. We are furthering our knowledge of Idaho’s geologic history and this vast mineral resource through collaborative efforts among our geologists, the Idaho Geological Survey, the United States Geologic Survey and academic institutions such as Boise State University, the University of Idaho and the University of Nevada.
