Trucks transport ore from the Continental Pit to the 

 Weed Concentrator, where the metals are separated from the 

 ore. Possible waste disposal sites include the Hillcrest 

 Dumps, the Yankee Doodle tailings pond, the Berkeley Pit and 

 the Pittsmont dump — all areas formerly used by AMC for 

 disposal of waste rock removed from the Continental and East 

 Berkeley Pits. Reclamation after mining will follow the 

 methods described for specific areas in the mining permits. 



Mill tailings are currently disposed of in the Yankee 

 Doodle tailings pond, located near the confluence of Yankee 

 Doodle Creek and upper Silver Bow Creek. The pond will be 

 expanded from 10 acres to 16 acres over the course of mining 

 operations. MRI has also submitted a proposal to dispose of 

 its tailings in the Berkeley Pit. This proposal is under 

 review by state and federal regulatory agencies. 



MRI is currently operating the leach-precipitation 

 process on a much smaller scale than AMC. This process 

 removes soluble copper from waste dumps that were generated 

 when AMC mined the Berkeley Pit. 



MRI acquired large water rights when it purchased AMC's 

 holdings. Although the open pit mining operations require 

 minimal water use, MRI uses a portion of the water acquired 

 from AMC to operate the Weed Concentrator. This water flows 

 by gravity from Warm Springs Creek below Silver Lake in Deer 

 Lodge County to Ramsay, where it is pumped to the Weed 

 Concentrator. There is currently more water available than 

 is being used for the Butte operations, and studies are being 

 conducted to determine how to make this excess water 

 available to other users. 



MRI uses approximately one to three million gallons of 

 water per day, most of which is recycled. Although MRI holds 

 a permit to discharge water to Silver Bow Creek, it is not 

 currently discharging to any surface water body. In light of 

 the recent DHES reclassification of Silver Bow Creek to a 

 Class I stream, MRI woula likely have to treat any discharge 

 to the creek so that water quality would not be degraded 

 below existing conditions. 



Montana Mining Properties. Inc. and New Butte Mining. Inc. 



In 1987, Montana Mining Properties, Inc. (MMPI) 

 purchased extensive holdings on Butte Hill from MRI. Several 

 of the properties have been resold and are now being operated 

 by New Butte Mining, Inc. (NBMI) . Both MMPI and NBMI have 

 active, licensed exploration programs while NBMI also has a 

 Small Miners Exclusion Statement filed with the Montana 

 Department of State Lands (DSL) . Both of these companies are 



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