STUDY NUMBER ; 3.2 



ORGANIZATION ; Montana Department of State Lands (MDSL) 



TITLE OF STUDY ; Aquatic Resource Studies Associated with 

 ASARCO's Rock Creek Project 



CONTACTS ; Terry Grotbo - MDSL, Helena - 444-2074 

 Kit Walther - MDSL, Helena - 444-2074 

 Jim Vashro - MDFWP, Kalispell - 755-5505 



OBJECTIVE ; Establish baseline water quality, water quantity, 

 fishery and other biological conditions for Rock Creek, 

 Sanders County, Montana. 



DURATION ; 1984 - 1987 



CURRENT STATUS ; ASARCO is proposing to develop a silver- 

 copper deposit in the Cabinet Mountains, approximately five 

 miles northeast of Noxon. The site is beneath the Cabinet 

 Mountains Wilderness Area near St. Paul and Chicago Peaks. 

 Mining, and most of the crushing and ore concentrating would 

 occur underground within a room- and- pillar excavation. 

 Tailings would be slurried to a tailings dam, located one 

 quarter mile from the Clark Fork River. 



In April, 1985, WESTTECH, a consulting firm hired by 

 ASARCO, finalized a study plan for the collection of baseline 

 aquatic resource data within the Rock Creek Drainage. 

 Sampling began in the spring of 1985. Ten surface water 

 stations will be sampled seasonally (biweekly during spring) 

 for the analysis of 33 major water quality parameters, 

 including common ions, nutrients and heavy metals. (To 



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