By Josh Margolis
FORT BELKNAP, Mont. (NMB) – The Fort Belknap Indian Community, along with three conservation groups, have petitioned the U.S. Department of the Interior to launch an investigation into how the mineral withdrawal at the Zortman Landusky Reclamation Area lapsed for 48-hours in October 2020.
During that time, Blue Arc LLC filed 10 mining claims, which the complaint claims, “potentially jeopardized decades of costly and ongoing reclamation work at the defunct Zortman and Landusky cyanide leach gold mines.”
The petition argues that the filings of mining claims during the lapse were coordinated and warrant an investigation. It asks for the investigation to look into whether the lapse was intentional, why Fort Belknap was not notified of the lapse, and why the 20-year extension shrinks the withdrawal area by over 800 acres. The area was previously over 3,500 acres.
With the exception of the 48-hour lapse, the mineral withdrawal has been in constant effect at the site since December of 2000. A mineral withdrawal closes an area to new mining claims.
The mines were abandoned in January 1998 after Pegasus Gold Corp. filed for bankruptcy. Millions in state and federal funds have been used in the decades since to address long-term water treatment and mine reclamation.
