Madison County mine shows promise

American Pacific Mining Corp. announced significant assay results from its 2024 field program at the Madison Copper-Gold Project, igniting optimism among investors and stakeholders in the mining sector, according to a company press release. American Pacific reported gold grades reaching as high as 80.6 grams per ton, alongside notable copper and silver findings, reinforcing the project’s potential.

This good news comes in the wake of the largest mine layoff in Montana history, offering a mixed picture of what the future holds for mineral extraction in the Treasure State. 

This past summer, American Pacific Mining collected a total of 88 rock samples and 141 soil samples as part of its extensive fieldwork outside of Silver Star. The assay results revealed not only impressive gold grades but also copper concentrations of up to 5.2%, with additional findings of 3.3%. Silver values were also recorded, enhancing the project's overall appeal, according to the company release. 

Eric Saderholm, managing director of exploration at American Pacific, expressed enthusiasm regarding the results. 

“We are encouraged by the field work results that followed up on our 2024 drilling program,” he stated. “The field mapping and rock sampling have extended the mineralized footprint 2.5 kilometers southeast and 2 kilometers west. The data collected presents us with five additional target areas that have not historically been drill tested, but have now been included in the fully-funded Phase II drill program beginning Q1, 2025.”

The company is currently in the permitting process for a 3,000-meter Phase II drilling program, which is set to commence in early 2025. The radiometric surveys conducted during the field season highlighted thorium, potassium, and uranium, which can indicate the presence of porphyry systems, a promising sign for future exploration efforts.

However, American Pacific Mining cautioned that surface samples are inherently selective and may not represent the underlying values of the mineral deposits. As the company prepares for its upcoming drilling program, it seeks to refine its magnetic data further to maximize the potential for new discoveries across the property, according to the release. 

The announcement comes amid a backdrop of ongoing mine permitting in Montana. According to records from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, the number of hard rock operating permits increased from zero to 2 between 2023 and 2024. There was more activity among those applying for “Hard Rock Small Miner Exclusion Statements,” with 38 total filed in the last two years, along with 297 renewals. 

Since 2023, DEQ has processed 179 open cut mining permits and 3 coal mining permits. 

HISTORIC LAYOFF

But of all the recent numbers published recently about the state of mining in Montana, one stands out: 500. 

That’s approximately the number of Stillwater Mine employees let go in November as part of the largest downsizing on record for the state. 

Back on Sept. 11, Sibanye-Stillwater Mining sent the Montana Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) a “warn notice” announcing big cuts to the mine’s labor force.

It’s the type of notice that has meant the loss of hundreds of mining jobs across Montana and Wyoming over the past decade.

With this notice, “We lost 27% of all mining jobs in the state of Montana,” said Sam Loveridge, spokesperson for DLI.

“We thought it was very important to be there,” said Loveridge of the four-day rapid-response work in Columbus, where Sibanye-Stillwater keeps administrative offices. “It was the largest rapid response in the history of Montana. It’s the largest layoff in state history. It worked out to be more than 500 [people]. The Butte mine layoff back in the ’80s was probably bigger than Stillwater, but that was before we tracked those numbers.”

Sibanye-Stillwater Mining is the largest employer in Stillwater County, and to help transition displaced workers, DLI is counting on a $14 million dislocated worker grant from the U.S. Department of Labor.

“These employees are used to making $2,100 to $2,500 a week, six-figure salaries,” said Loveridge. “Our goal is to find them jobs that have commensurate pay, and using the skills they used at the mine, or whatever skills we can help them learn.”

Terry Haney and his wife Shanda just completed construction of what they thought would be home for the rest of their lives and were settling into life in southwest Billings, when word came in September that Terry’s job with Sibanye-Stillwater Mining would be cut as part of a historic downsizing.

The family recently spent their last day in Billings before moving on to Terry’s new job at a gold mine in South Carolina.

Haney spent nearly six years mining palladium with Sibanye-Stillwater. What gets emotional for him is thinking about “that brotherhood bond that guys build,” said Haney, who grew up in Fromberg and hoped to spend his career at Sibanye-Stillwater. “You get two guys underground when it’s quiet, you talk about stuff you don’t even talk to your spouse about.”

Haney put it like this: “When I got hired on, all they preached was, ‘We have resources for 70 years. Your grandkids will be able to work here.’”

Haney, a father of two, and other downsized mine staff were processed recently in groups of 20 in Columbus. The Stillwater Mine is 42 miles to the southwest of Columbus in the shadow of Granite Peak, Montana’s tallest mountain.

About 40 state employees from the Montana Department of Labor and Industry were on hand to offer “rapid response” assistance with job training and transition options.

Haney said he appreciated the support, but came away disappointed with the experience of being part of a mass layoff.

“Normally, when a company lays you off, they give you a one-on-one (meeting),” said Haney. “This was more, ‘Wham, bam, thank you ma’am.’”

SOUTH CAROLINA BOUND

Haney said some of his coworkers from the Stillwater Mine are training to become electrical linemen in Billings. Another is joining Haney in South Carolina, where they will transition from extracting the rare metal palladium in Montana to mining gold south of the Charlotte metro area. 

The OceanaGold Haile Gold mine in Kershaw, South Carolina, is a smaller operation, said Haney, but it comes with good pay. It’s also more than 2,000 miles from where Haney and his family have called home.

“There’s not many jobs that can offer you that pay scale right away,” said Haney, looking on the bright side of things during his last day in Montana before moving south. “It’s good pay, especially with the cost of living down there is significantly cheaper.”

A four-bedroom, three-bath, 3,000-square-foot home in that part of South Carolina goes for less than $500,000, about half of what it costs to buy a similar property in Montana, said Haney. This trip will be his first time setting foot in South Carolina, where his family will rent for the first six months.

With winter weather in the forecast in Montana, Haney said the packing process wasn’t all bad, adding, “I was happy to sell my snow blower.”

BY THE NUMBERS

In a Sept. 12 letter to employees, Sibanye-Stillwater Executive Vice President Kevin Robertson offered some discouraging news “with a heavy heart.”

“Two years ago, palladium was trading at $2,305 per ounce. In late summer 2023, it was down to $1,280 per ounce. In the last three months, palladium has traded consistently below $1,000 per ounce,” reported Robertson, adding an international twist. “We believe Russian dumping is a cause of this sharp price dislocation.

“Russia produces over 40% of the global palladium supply, and rising imports of palladium have inundated the U.S. market over the last several years,” continued Robertson in his statement. 

It seems, for the company, losing money for two years was the final straw.

“We have not had profitable operations since the third quarter of 2022,” he said. “In 2023, our Montana operations lost over $265 million. We have lost an additional $87 million in the first half of 2024, for a total of over $350 million in losses since the beginning of 2023.”

The automobile industry is the largest consumer of palladium, using up to 85% of global production for components like catalytic converters.

“We also believe the palladium market will recover with the right adjustments,” added Robertson, describing the up and down international marketplace for mined materials that’s led to layoffs in Wyoming’s coal industry and raises questions about future opportunities for miners in the West.

Sibanye-Stillwater is based in Weltevreden Park, South Africa, and reportedly has recently announced a 9% year-on-year increase in adjusted earnings, according to Mining Weekly.

Those gains were not enough to save hundreds of jobs in Montana, but some help is on the way. In addition to the federal dislocated worker grant, former Sibanye-Stillwater workers can transition to new jobs through the state of Montana’s apprenticeship program.

According to a Nov. 22 DLI report, 3,150 Montanans were enrolled in active apprenticeships at the end of September, an increase of 25% over the last five years. The number breaks the previous record set in 2022.

In 2024, 770 apprenticeships began in the first nine months of the year and more than 680 Montana businesses offered apprenticeships to train workers, another record high.