Sheep Creek Mine update 2025

Many people are wondering what is going on with the proposed Sheep Creek rare earth mine at the head of the Bitterroot River. US Critical Materials, the private company that owns the claims, has been like a ghost hovering silently but menacingly over us for several years. Despite their stated intentions to open a local office and hold public meetings to keep us informed, they have failed to deliver. Repeated deception in press releases and articles seems to be part of their brand.

Failure to follow up is good news when it comes to their false starts announcing impending exploration drilling. So far they have not done any exploration activities, like drilling, trenching or road building that involve significant ground disturbance, and they do not have the permits required to do any.

In spite of that USCM has inexplicably announced a deal with the Idaho National Laboratory, a federal energy lab, to build a pilot plant that would process one to two tons of Sheep Creek ore per day. See: https://uscriticalmaterials.com/us-critical-materials-and-idaho-national-laboratory-collaborate-to-strengthen-u-s-national-security-with-next-generation-rare-earth-critical-minerals-processing-plant/

How they expect to get that amount of ore is a concern, given they do not have an Exploration Plan of Operation, let alone any permit to mine. What they do have is a 2025 NOI (Notice of Intent) permit which only allows for operations that will not likely cause significant resource disturbances. See: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r01/bitterroot/newsroom/releases/notice-intent-conduct-mineral-exploration-1

Presently USCM makes baseless claims like: “We have confirmed that Sheep Creek is the highest-grade rare earth deposit in the United States, with a multibillion-dollar resource value,” https://uscriticalmaterials.com/high-grade-gallium-rare-earths-verified/  when in fact they actually know almost nothing about the amount of ore (resource value) at the Sheep Creek claims. USCM would have to drill to know about the size of the resource. High grades are not enough to make a REE mine profitable, just as a gold nugget does not make for a gold mine. They need sufficient volume of ore to make a mine.

Elsewhere, out of the other side of their mouth, they momentarily get honest: “No assurance can be given that any particular level of recovery of minerals will be realized or that an identified resource will ever qualify as a commercially mineable or viable deposit which can be legally and economically exploited.” https://uscriticalmaterials.com/high-grade-gallium-rare-earths-verified/

Permits to do the necessary drilling and associated road building to access drill sites would need to be obtained from the Bitterroot National Forest as well as Montana DEQ. Over the years the USFS has developed shortcuts (called CE’s) in permitting by allowing sketchy analysis of potential environmental impacts and shortened time allowed to the public to weigh in on the taking of public resources. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-36/chapter-II/part-220/section-220.6   Now, with the stroke of a sharpie, President Trump has released an Executive Order that can be used to expedite permitting even further. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/immediate-measures-to-increase-american-mineral-production/

Given the potentially very short time the public may be allowed to comment on the proposed Sheep Creek mine we knew we  had to get out ahead of the official public process so we created a document we call “pre-scoping comments” and recruited support from 17 groups to serve as a framework for more refined comments once we know specifics regarding any proposed Exploration PoO released to the public for comments.

While awaiting the official start of public involvement by permitting agencies we are continuing to volunteer with a “citizen science” project, supported by several non-profit groups, to establish baseline data on water quality conditions that could be jeopardized once ground disturbing activities begin at the mine site. So far, after two rounds of expensive testing, partially funded by a Cinnabar Foundation grant, we have documented that the three streams presently being tested are pristine, as one would expect in this wildlands headwaters area.

One vital issue we want to highlight is the question about presence, or not, of asbestos at the mine site. This potential human health issue needs to be addressed before any “ground disturbing” activities take place. Permitting agencies, USFS and MTDEQ, should require USCM to pay for independent testing for asbestos at the Sheep Creek mine site. It is well documented that a significant amount of the mineral actinolite is associated with the REE minerals USCM is targeting. Actinolite can be asbestiform and even more toxic than the more usual type of asbestos. There is good reason to be concerned. In 1960 it was reported that Sheep Creek actinolite “forms masses of radiating fibers surrounding other crystals”. Tremolite, closely related to actinolite, has killed hundreds of people in and around a vermiculite mine in Libby, Montana. Dust containing asbestos can travel far and wide and is very difficult to ever clean up. Prevention is the only solution. Drilling exploration is dusty business. See: https://missoulacurrent.com/viewpoint-mine-asbestos/ For more information about asbestos at Sheep Creek see the Asbestos report by Larry Campbell