By Amanda Eggert, Montana Free Press
Rafters float the Smith River in the spring of 2016. Credit: Nick Ehli / MTFP
The Montana Supreme Court on Monday issued a decision that brings a central Montana copper mine one step closer to operation.
In a 5-2 decision, the justices wrote that the Montana Department of Environmental Quality made a “reasoned decision” when it issued a permit to Tintina Montana Incorporated (now Sandfire Resources America) to extract approximately 14 million tons of copper from a mine in Meagher County.
