Troy mine bond concerns Rock Creek Alliance

SANDPOINT — Further negotiations are pending to recalculate the amount of the reclamation bond for idled Troy Mine, according to the U.S. Forest Service and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality.

Revett Mining Company’s copper and silver mine currently has a $12.9 million bond in place to ensure that taxpayers aren’t left holding the bag when it comes to reclaiming the site and monitoring water quality after the project closes down.

The mine is currently on care-and-maintenance status due to metals market prices.

Kootenai National Forest officials calculated in 2013 that as much as $29 million may ultimately be needed to fund reclamation and monitoring, according to Forest Service records.

The issue of Troy’s bond came up last month when Montana lawmakers were considering a bill that would require mining companies that extract from ore bodies with sulfide mineralization to post increased bonds.

“Those are the mines that end up developing problems later on with metals leeching and acid mine drainage,” said Mary Crowe Costello, executive director of the Rock Creek Alliance.

The alliance is challenging Revett’s proposed mine at Rock Creek and is concerned that the bond is underfunded at Troy.

“If they’re not going to meeting their financial obligations at Troy, how can we expected them to do it at Rock Creek?” said Crowe Costello.

John Shanahan, president and CEO of Revett, said the company will meet its bond obligations at both projects and anticipates that the bond at Troy will be increased.

“The alarm bells shouldn’t be ringing,” said Shanahan.

Although Shanahan believes the bond at Troy will increase, he doubts it will be increased to the $29 million figure proposed by the Forest Service. Shanahan said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Forest Service and Montana DEQ determined in 2012 that active water treatment is not required for reclamation at Troy due to the cleanliness of the operation.

“We’ve got a responsibility and we’ve got the funding set aside to do it,” Shanahan said.

Kootenai National Forest Supervisor Chris Savage said Troy’s bond will be further negotiated.

“Once a value is determined then there are negotiations between all parties so the values can be different than the original estimate once a final bond value has been settled by all the parties,” Savage said.

Lisa Peterson, a spokeswoman at Montana DEQ, said the agency is still in discussions with the Forest Service on Troy’s bond.

“When the agencies agree on a draft bond amount, we will follow the procedure for increasing the bond required under state law,” said Peterson.