Placer and l.odc 



but you're going to need someone that has a lot 

 more money to do the development and make sure 

 the environmental work is done. Either that, or 

 openite it xs a small. ht>bby-type mine." Mark V tried 

 to take the middle ground, CA)rnish says, and 

 couldn't interest a larger company for capitalization. 

 "Environmental critics accused them of ripping and 

 running, " he says, "but I think they were trying to 

 do it right; they seriously took into account the sen- 

 sitivity of working near a blue ribbon trout stream. 

 They just didn't have the money." 



Although it is gold that has lured the most 

 prospectors to Rock Creek, it is sapphires that have 

 provided the steadiest source of wealth. The 

 precious stone that gave its name to the Sapphire 

 Range was first discovered in Cornish Gulch dur- 

 ing the early 1890s. »* But the most profitable sap- 

 phire claim has been that of the American Gem Min- 

 ing Company of St. Louis, about 24 miles west of 

 Philipsburg on the Skalkaho Road. The Missouri 

 company bought the claim in 1902 and hired young 

 women from Philipsburg to sort the gems. 

 Throughout the 1940s and '50s, high pressure hoses 

 bit into the mountains, yielding gems for jewelry, 

 watches and industrial uses. Today, a company call- 

 ed Gem Mountain Sapphires sells bags of earth from 

 the site to tourists, who sift for their own sapphires. 



Nearby, Skalkaho Grazing Company floats 

 the only mining dredge in Monuna on a lake the 

 company dug in search of sapphires — an operation 

 the state has not approved (as this report goes to 

 press) and which conservationist critics say il- 

 lustrates the difficulty of enforcement even in the 

 neighborhood of a blue ribbon trout stream. The 

 company bought the property and the mining per- 

 mit in 19''5, posted a $3,000 bond, and has not up- 

 dated the permit since bringing in the dredge. The 

 Hardrock Mining Bureau in 1989 rejected an 

 operating plan for the lake and dredge; unless the 

 Bureau receives a $26,000 bond on the 13 acres af- 

 fected, it will be authorized to shut down the opera- 

 tion in 1991. By then, say the critics, spring flooding 

 might already have contributed to an accident— 

 with clean-up costs to be borne by the taxpayers. 



Although few miners have struck it rich in 

 Rock Creek, interest in Rock Creek mining has 



grown in recent years '' "The protective effort cer 

 tainly discouraged a lot of companies from look 

 ing there," says Don Lawson. "But basically there 

 haven't been the indications for large deposits. 

 There's been plenty of small mines in the last 40 

 years and that will continue." 



Only two areas are off-limits to miners. The 

 Lolo National Forest has withdrawn a total of 2,143 

 acres along the banks of Rock Creek from mineral 

 activity; no new claims can be filed in these areas. •"' 

 And in 1988. ten years after the Welcome Creek 

 Wilderness Area was designated, it, too, \\'as remov- 

 ed from mineral activity. The Anaconda-Pintlar 

 Wilderness also falls into this category. (A ten-year 

 grace period allows development of pre-existing 

 mining claims in newly designated wilderness 

 areas.) 



For the rest, the Lolo National Forest has pro- 

 posed immediate water quality monitoring to gather 

 "baseline" data before further development on the 

 most promising sites. And a "non-degradation 

 clause" regulating waste discharge will be includ- 

 ed in future mining permits issued by the state for 

 the Rock Creek drainage."*^ 



Bruce Farling, of the Clark Fork Coalition, 

 fears mining represents the biggest potential threat 

 to Rock Creek. He blames prospectors, government 

 officials and even conservationists themselves. 

 "One big proposal up there could create a hell of 

 a mess, ' he says. "And all these little guys— we don't 

 know what they're doing. One yoyo with cyanide 

 can produce tragic results " 



Monitoring, so far, is inadequate, Farling says. 

 "You want to monitor as close as possible to the 

 project. But the Deerlodge mainly monitors on the 

 mainstem — on Rock Creek itself— and when you do 

 that, how do you know who caused the pollution? 

 Frankly, environmentalists have ignored mining up 

 there. Logging is so much easier to v^'atch '" 



Missoula wilderness activist Bill Cun- 

 ningham agrees. "At least with timber sales and 

 roadless areas we have some handles, ' he say's. "The 

 Forest Service has some discretion to stop surface 

 activities. But underground, it's hard to control. The 

 frontier's gone and yet where mining is concern- 

 ed, we're still operating under that mentality" 



