Editorial: Montana's Controversial Rock Creek Mine

Editorial: Montana’s Controversial Rock Creek Mine

by Jim Ebisch

_______________

Throughout history, the demand for commodities has been constantly increasing. It is difficult to envision a reversal of this trend. Between China and India alone, roughly two billion people are on the verge of becoming middle class consumers. Good or bad, this is called progress, and it seems inevitable. No one wants to live in a mud hut if something better is available. Inhabitants of the developing world want to enjoy the same shiny gadgets that we take for granted here in the United States.

The Rock Creek Mine will supply silver and copper to industry and eventually the consumer. Even those whom object to the coming mine probably use silver and copper on a daily basis. The mining industry is a service business, supplying commodities demanded by the consumer. The most ardent environmentalist would certainly agree that, without consumer demand, there would be no call for mining.

In particular, silver has a bright future because of the many new uses that have been found. It is ironic that many of these contemporary uses of silver directly benefit the environment, the same environment that the supporters of the Rock Creek Alliance are trying to protect. Most people are unaware of the many beneficial uses of silver. It has long been known to deter the growth of harmful bacteria. Pioneers coming west in their covered wagons put a silver dollar on the bottom of their water barrels to keep the water fresh. Minute amounts of silver going into solution helped kill harmful bacteria that grew in the water barrel. Silver is only beginning to take an important role in modern water purification.

Toxic, arsenic-bearing paints used on ocean going ship hulls will soon be replaced by paints that contain silver. The silver ions prevent the hulls from being fouled by barnacles without the use of arsenic. Similarly, arsenic-bearing preservative solutions, used on treated wood, will soon be replaced by silver-bearing solutions, yielding a cleaner environment. The medical industry is also incorporating silver fibers into bandages, especially important with respect to burn victims. The silver can prevent deadly infections over large areas of the body where the skin has been destroyed. These are only a few of the many new uses for silver. Silver is a vital commodity that is seeing a strong resurgence in demand.

Several legitimate concerns have been raised regarding the Rock Creek Mine. Although these concerns have become a crisis only for the peanut gallery, they still deserve to be addressed. One concern is pollution of water by heavy metals. The Rock Creek ore contains native silver and copper sulfide minerals. These will be removed, processed and ultimately turned into useful products. The ore contains no significant lead, zinc, arsenic, kryptonite or bogeymen. The rock from which the metals have been mechanically liberated consists of pure sand. This crushed rock is environmentally benign because the sulfide minerals have been removed.

A maximum of 3 million gallons of groundwater will come from the mine on a daily basis. This water will undergo two filtration processes. The first process will remove any nitrates from the water, and the second process will remove any dissolved metals from the water. The purified water meets the discharge standards of both the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality. It will be discharged into the Clark Fork River to mix with the average 12.5 billion gallons of water that pass by the mouth of Rock Creek on a daily basis. Yes, you read that right—12.5 billion gallons daily is the average volume of the mighty Clark Fork River near Rock Creek.

Another concern is that of acid mine drainage. For those unfamiliar with the rudiments of low temperature aqueous geochemistry, a minimum threshold of about 6% sulfide minerals is necessary to sustain the chemical reaction that produces acid mine drainage. The Rock Creek ore contains an average of about 2% sulfide minerals. Therefore, acid mine drainage cannot occur at the Rock Creek Mine unless the laws of thermodynamics are repealed.

Finally, for those who still question the veracity of the extensive Environmental Impact Statement produced jointly by the US Forest Service and the Montana Department of Fish and Wildlife after 16 years of study, there is the shining example of the nearby Troy Mine. The ore at the Troy Mine is identical to that of the Rock Creek ore. During a 12-year period (1981-1993), the Troy Mine produced 390 million pounds of copper and 44 million ounces of silver. The tie-dyed crackbrains of that era sadly lamented the certain demise of nearby Lake Creek and the imminent pollution of the Kootenai River. Now, nearly two decades later, the Kootenai River remains breathtakingly beautiful and Lake Creek is still the blue-ribbon trout stream it always was.

The coming Rock Creek Mine poses no threat to the environment. The only real threat is ignorance.

_______________

Jim Ebisch is an economic geologist who has spent the last quarter century studying rocks throughout the western hemisphere.