Wednesday February 5, 2025
Idaho Statesman —
Unlike past mines at Stibnite, which date to 1899 and contributed to the environmental damage still there, Perpetua plans to use 21st-century extraction techniques to reduce its impact while also doubling the existing project site. The company is here for the long haul, Perpetua officials said, and, once finished with operations, intends to improve the area compared to what it inherited.
“We’ve interdeveloped or interwoven cleanup of these legacy impacts with modern, responsible mining activity,” Mckinsey Lyon, spokesperson for Perpetua Resources, told the Idaho Statesman. “And we’ve done that because we’re so serious about our commitment that we can leave this place better.”
The company projects a polished public image focused on modern technologies and ecological restoration, touting that much of the antimony it produces will go toward advanced batteries and military needs. But conservationists and Nez Perce tribal members like Taylor say the mining company has tried to cut corners and limit environmental oversight, and what it really covets from the region’s hillsides is the same as the miners from past generations: gold.