By Jessie Wiles and Derf Johnson, Bozeman Daily Chronicle
Summers on Montanas’s Smith River. Does it get any better than that? Our beloved Smith River is a place where we gather with family and friends to soak in some of Montana’s most pristine wilderness. But this cherished land continues to be under threat by outside industrial mining interests.
The Montana Supreme Court decided earlier this year to reinstate the operating permit for the Black Butte Copper Mine, putting it one step closer to moving forward on its proposed copper mine, located on private land near White Sulphur Springs. The mine is proposed adjacent to and underneath Sheep Creek, a key tributary of the Smith River. Now, the Australian company behind the mine is eyeing public lands in the Smith River watershed, having acquired nearly 700 mining claims on public lands surrounding the mine.
