deficient and incomplete by DSL, and at this writing the 

 company has not resubmitted its application. 



In March 1988, the DHES-Water Quality Bureau filed suit 

 against the American Eagle Mining Company for violating the 

 Montana Water Quality Act. In September 1987, the company 

 discharged wastewater from its placer wash ponds without a 

 permit. In October 1987, multiple impoundment structure 

 failures resulted in the deposition of significant quantities 

 of sediment in the drainage below the mine site. The DHES- 

 WQB has sought an injunction against further mining activity 

 until water quality violations are permanently corrected and 

 environmental damage repaired, and it opposes the issuance of 

 an operating permit until these problems are resolved. 



ASARCO. Inc. 



ASARCO has proposed to construct a 10,000 ton/day mine 

 and mill complex to develop its silver-copper ore deposits 

 under the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness. The project site is 

 located on Kaniksu National Forest land, which is admini- 

 stered by the Kootenai National Forest in Sanders County, on 

 the west fork of Rock Creek approximately six miles northeast 

 of Noxon. The ore body would be accessed through development 

 adits with portals located outside the wilderness boundary. 

 The underground mining would be a large-scale, mechanized, 

 room-and-pillar operation. The ore would be crushed and 

 ground at the ore processing complex to liberate metal- 

 bearing sulfides. A flotation process would then be used to 

 remove the sulfides. The copper-silver ore concentrate 

 (about 51,000 tons/year) would be trucked to Noxon for rail 

 shipment to a smelter (ASARCO, Inc. 1987) . 



The water requirement for the mill would be approxi- 

 mately 3,000 gpm, which would be derived from mine water 

 drainage, freshwater wells, wastewater from sewage treatment, 

 plant site runoff, thickener overflow, and reclaimed water 

 from the tailings impoundment. Domestic water needs are 

 expected to be about 3 gpm. 



Tailings generated during the operation would be 

 slurried in a pipeline to an impoundment area located mostly 

 on private lands with portions on federal land. The impound- 

 ment area would be continuously expanded, covering approxi- 

 mately 376 acres during the projected life of the mine. The 

 utility corridor containing the tailings pipelines, water 

 pipelines, power lines, and telephone lines would generally 

 parallel USFS Road No. 150, which would be partly relocated 

 and upgraded to a two-lane road. ASARCO has proposed 

 reclamation objectives and developed a plan to rehabilitate 

 all areas disturbed during mine construction, operation, and 

 closure. 



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