An overhead view of the abandoned Yellow Pine Pit at the Stibnite Mine, which Perpetua Resources hopes to resume mining in. (Clark Corbin/Idaho Capital Sun)
The U.S. Forest Service has issued a final record of decision approving the Stibnite Gold Mine Project in Central Idaho’s Payette National Forest, green-lighting what could become one of the largest gold mines in the United States.
A company called Perpetua Resources – formerly known as Midas Gold – seeks to resume mining gold, silver and the chemical element antimony at the Stibnite Gold Mine. Mining at the site dates back to 1899 and the Thunder Mountain Gold Rush. Metals mined at Stibnite contributed to the World War II effort.
But by 1992 mining had ceased and Stibnite’s open pit mine was abandoned, polluting the East Fork of the South Fork of the Salmon River with arsenic and sediment , the Idaho Capital Sun previously reported.
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Perpetua Resources says Stibnite is still loaded with gold and an element called antimony. The company has promised to clean up some of the historic mine waste, reprocess and safely store historic mine tailings and restore some waterways and fish habitat.