A mining company has identified potentially lucrative deposits of rare earth elements tucked in the Bitterroot Mountains near the Idaho-Montana border. These metallic elements are used in cellphones, laptops and TVs, as well as electric vehicles.
Two elements called neodymium and praseodymiumr make up the bulk of the deposit and are part of a once-overlooked group on the periodic table that are now an increasingly valuable resource. Demand for them is booming, fueled by their role in modern technology and the electric vehicle industry. The mining claims in the Bitterroot are part of a larger Western mineral rush for rare earth elements and for so-called green metals, such as copper, cobalt, lithium and nickel.
“The glaring irony there in all this is, we all love our green technologies and we want to reduce pollution and carbon footprints, etc.,” said Jeff Williams, CEO of U.S. Critical Materials. “But the materials required to make that happen have to come out of the ground.”
The company announced that its holdings contain the highest-grade deposits in the United States, although that hasn’t been verified by any government agency. But U.S. Critical Materials, which is registered in Nevada and based in Salt Lake City, is confident about the testing. “There’s been no one that’s been able to dispute it,” said director Ed Cowle.
A potential new mine in the Bitterroot Mountains prompted localbuzz in southwestern Montana. The Sheep Creek area is about 40 miles south of the town of Darby on Bitterroot National Forest land, and the West Fork of the Bitterroot River is downstream. The Bitterroot River is a tributary of the Clark Fork River, which eventually drains into the Columbia River.
The potential mining site is in a remote forested area that has historically been mined. It contains 12 of the 17 rare earth elements across a 7-square-mile area. “One of the positives of having high grades in a fairly small area is that the work can be concentrated,” Cowle said. “We believe it’s economical.”
“One of the positives of having high grades in a fairly small area is that the work can be concentrated.”
The company re-opened old mining tunnels that were used to extract titanium and niobium decades ago, and explored its claims with an initial “notice of intent” to the Forest Service in the fall of 2022. That allowed surface sampling with hand tools, said Dan Pliley, West Fork district ranger, as well as mapping. That preliminary notice of intent, however, doesn’t allow what U.S. Critical Materials would like to do next: test drilling in seven to 12 drill holes, and eventually, open-pit or underground mining.
To proceed, the company has to submit a plan of operations to the Forest Service, including a project description, documentation of hazardous substances, reclamation standards and more. “Right now, there’s no plans for drilling as far as we’re concerned,” Pliley said. “There’s not a project that’s moving forward until we do see a plan of operations.”
An operational mine is still years out: The company wants to do exploratory drilling and the proposed operation would need to go through federal review, which could mean environmental assessments, public comment and objection periods.
Pliley said potential concerns could include water quality impacts, such as chemicals or sediment from the operation leaching into the ground or nearby streams. Private inholdings — a few small properties, homesteads, farms and ranches — are also nearby.
The project could also require a tribal consultation process, if it includes unceded or culturally sensitive lands. It isn’t clear yet if that’s the case: U.S. Critical Materials said it was not aware of any such lands overlapping its claims. However, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and the Nez Perce Tribe have weighed in on other projects in the national forest in the past. “If there were to be disturbance in that area, they would likely be consulted,” Pliley said.
Federal policy has given projects like the one at Sheep Creek a boost. Cowle called the Inflation Reduction Act, which contains a tax credit for electric vehicles if components are sourced domestically, a major motivation to stake out claims in Sheep Creek and a “shot in the arm” for rare earths. The U.S. would also like to rely less on China, which dominates the rare earths market. “We’ve got a lot of encouragement,” Cowle said. “Yet we know we have to do it right for the local community, right for the environment. So it’s a push-pull.”
Kylie Mohr is an editorial fellow for High Country News writing from Montana. Email her at kylie.mohr@hcn.org or submit a letter to the editor. See our letters to the editor policy.
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