DARBY — As U.S. Critical Materials looks to move forward with a new plan for exploration mining up the West Fork, the company is also moving physically, setting up headquarters in Darby by the end of the month. The Forest Service acknowledged the company’s new operations plan July 1st and is reviewing the proposal.
(WATCH: A conversation with the Sheep Creek Project mining company)
“We can now address the public openly and say, ‘This is what we know so far, this is what we intend to learn and this is how we want you to be engaged in the decision-making process moving forward,’” said Chad Miller, the company’s chief technology officer. “We are completely aware of the fact that, without community engagement, this will never take off.”
With the Sheep Creek Project, located about 40 miles southwest of Darby, U.S. Critical Materials (USCM) is in search of rare earth elements, which they say are key for national security. They proposed doing exploration drilling to better understand the mineral deposits.
“I’ll be the first to tell you that we don't know what we don't know,” Miller said. “The reason companies like ours go through these exploration processes is because we want to get a broader picture based on what's been indicated through prior testing.”
The project has been controversial, especially since the site is near the headwaters of the West Fork of the Bitterroot River. After community concerns, including a meeting attended by hundreds in December, the company rescinded their original draft operations plan and submitted a reduced version to the Forest Service this spring.
“We dialed back on quantity. We dialed back on the amount of bulk material being extracted,” Miller said. “We took what was originally planned to be a little over four acres of physical disturbance and we reduced it to just under a third of an acre, so it’s about 11,000 square foot.”
The new plan focuses on four locations, one where the company plans to do bulk sampling and three where they plan to do surface drilling. Previous drafts focused on using roads to access the remote site. Now, USCM proposes using helicopters to bring in and out most of the materials, instead of using roads.
USCM submitted the new proposal to the Forest Service in April and updated it in June. Now, the Forest Service is putting together a team to do environmental analysis. Miller said their data so far suggests that common mining problems like acid rock drainage and asbestos would not be an issue, but exploration would allow them to learn more.
“It doesn't mean that we believe that there's no way that it's present, but based on the sample set that we've analyzed so far through independent labs, it hasn't been there,” Miller said. “So, with the exploration phase, we get a better determination of what we're up against in terms of that physically being present on that site.”
The project, including the new proposal, has received lots of questions and concerns from nearby communities. Earlier this week, conservation groups flew community leaders and lawmakers over the site.
Some concerns have focused on USCM, as the company originally kept a low profile in the Bitterroot and shied away from much engagement. Miller said they were waiting until they had more information to share.
“Rather than misinform the community, we wanted to develop a firm game plan, have a better understanding of what was going to be allowed by the Forest Service, by DNRC, and then make decisions on how to communicate that with the public based on the direction that we were being pointed towards,” he said.
Especially as they open their new headquarters in Darby, Miller said they will be much more involved in the community and plan to host tours, information sessions and more. He lives in the Bitterroot and said he hopes over time that the company can build the community’s trust.
“We genuinely want this to work for the entire community and my family is depending on me to deliver that,” he said. “So, I don't know, I don't think anyone's gonna buy that until they've had a chance to get to know us and understand that we're not just suits intent on destroying everything for the opportunity to make a dime.”
