Hecla Mining Company is committed to the pursuit of unlocking the value at Montanore, now called the Libby Exploration Project. However, first we must conduct underground exploration and evaluation activities to collect data that will inform project engineering requirements, environmental requirements, and overall project feasibility.
Per federal regulations, Montanore Minerals Corporation (MMC), a wholly owned subsidiary of Hecla Mining Company, has submitted a Plan of Operations for the Libby Exploration Project to the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). The Forest Service accepted public comments as part of the Forest Service’s Environmental Assessment (EA) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). A notice of the draft environmental assessment and supporting documents are available on the project page on the Kootenai National Forest
website.
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The Libby Exploration Project is located approximately 20 aerial miles south of the town of Libby in Lincoln County, Montana near the Cabinet Mountains of northwestern Montana.
In September 2016, Hecla, the largest U.S. silver producer, acquired the Montanore project with the acquisition of Mines Management Inc. After careful consideration, the existing plans of operation, inherited from prior owners, were withdrawn at Montanore. A new Plan of Operations was submitted for standalone evaluation activities at Montanore (Libby Exploration Project).