Mine Could Cause Irreparable Harm to Smith River

Mining Impact Potential on Smith River

Bob Ream, Independent Record:  “Unfortunately, the Smith River is under serious threat from a proposal to build a massive copper mine at its headwaters. Canadian based Tintina Resources, a penny-stock start-up that has no experience with large-scale industrial mining, is currently investigating the feasibility of a large copper mine on the Smith River’s most valuable tributary, Sheep Creek. Tintina recently partnered with Australian-based Sandfire Resources. The largest and most prestigious university in Australia, Australian National University, recently divested its financial portfolio from Sandfire for its poor social and environmental practices. Is this really a company we want doing business in Montana?

“The Smith River mine has a high likelihood of generating acid mine drainage due to the local geology of the area, a process that has already been the death sentence for many of Montana’s streams and rivers. Sheep Creek is essential for the Smith River fishery, as more than 50 percent of the tributary spawning in the Smith River basin occurs in Sheep Creek” (read more).