It likely won’t hold that title for long – in 2019 alone, more than 5,000 mining claims were filed in the cobalt belt, indicating that a more serious cobalt mining boom could be on the horizon. Idaho is home to the largest known cobalt deposit in the U.S., an area west of Salmon known as the Idaho Cobalt Belt that is home to one permitted mine ( Jervois’ Idaho Cobalt Operations ) slated to come into production in 2022, at which point it will be the only operating cobalt mine in the country. One of these minerals is cobalt – an essential ingredient for the most common type of electric vehicle (EV) battery. As the demand for clean energy, electric vehicles, and battery storage continues to grow, mining companies have increasingly looked to Idaho to mine sought-after minerals needed to achieve these goals. The mine is in the advanced stage of permitting and we are part of a concerted effort to stop this high-risk project.Īs our climate continues to warm, it is increasingly important that our global society rapidly moves away from burning fossil fuels and toward renewable, low-carbon energy and transportation. Perpetua is also promoting the narrative that the mine will provide antimony for industrial-sized batteries that will fuel the transition to sustainable energy, but at the end of the day, Stibnite remains a gold mine in a high-risk location. While Perpetua’s stated intent is to clean up and restore a historic mining area that was contaminated and abandoned by previous mining companies, the footprint of the proposed Stibnite Gold Project goes far beyond the footprint of previous mining operations and will have unacceptable impacts both onsite and far downstream. Meanwhile, pristine tributaries to the East Fork South Fork would be buried under 400’ of toxic mine tailings and waste rock. Mining company Perpetua Resources hopes to dewater the river, divert it into a tunnel, excavate a 400’ deep pit under the riverbed, and then backfill the pit with mining waste from another open pit. The East Fork South Fork of the Salmon River is many things - a rambunctious whitewater river, a stronghold for bull trout, steelhead, and Chinook salmon - and the target for an open-pit mine. Perpetua Resources' Stibnite Gold Project
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