Opponents of cyanide leach mining in Montana are seeking to change the state’s constitution in an effort to ban the process.
A group calling itself Montanans for Common Sense Mining Laws submitted a constitutional amendment to the office of the secretary of state. The amendment is designed to guarantee the health of the Blackfoot River, which has its headwaters near Canyon Resources’s proposed McDonald gold project, where cyanide leaching has been proposed.
In 1998, Montanans voted to ban cyanide leaching in mines. Initiative 137, which won by a margin of 52 to 48, prohibited cyanide or heap-leaching of gold or silver mined from an open pit, except for mines that were already operating and mines that already had a permit to do so (in which case the permit could be extended).
The ban took effect before Canyon had a permit for the McDonald project, and the company has been fighting the ban in court since it passed. The company filed suit against the state, seeking either to overturn the initiative or obtain a damage award for the lost value of the properties.
Recently, the Montana Mining Association filed a ballot initiative to reform the state’s mining laws. If passed, the law would allow the use of cyanide, but only under a series of new statutory restrictions designed to ensure it is used safely.
The new requirements would require, among other things, that companies build leach pads and ponds to withstand 100-year storm events. Extra precautionary measures would be required for projects near streams or rivers.
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