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Court says Montana minimizing mining impact

By MATTHEW BROWN, Associated Press
Published: May 25, 2018, 8:42pm

BILLINGS, Mont. — A gold exploration proposal near Yellowstone National Park had a setback as a judge blamed Montana officials for understating the potential for mining to harm land, water and wildlife.

The ruling released Friday means the Montana Department of Environmental Quality would have to conduct a lengthy environmental review before Lucky Minerals can proceed.

The Vancouver, Canada, company received approval last year to begin searching for gold, copper and other minerals at 23 locations in Emigrant Gulch, an area of mountains and forest in south-central Montana’s Paradise Valley. It has a history of small-scale mining.

The exploration would guide the company’s plans for commercial mining.

Environmental groups sued over the project last year on behalf of local residents, who are concerned mining could pollute the nearby Yellowstone River.

State Judge Brenda R. Gilbert agreed with the environmentalists that state officials gave too much deference to the company in considering the project and ignored evidence that water supplies could be damaged.

The agency also should have looked more closely at the project’s impacts on grizzly bears and wolverines and considered the broader implications if Lucky Minerals expands onto federal lands, Gilbert said.

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