Little Rocky mining exploration draws fine

Courtesy Earthworks

Rust-colored water from runoff from a mine in Swift Gulch at the Zortman Landusky mine site in the Little Rocky Mountains stains the earth last fall. Montana Department of Environmental Quality has assessed a $516.567 on companies for doing unlicensed, unpermitted mining exploration on private land in the Zortmain Mine area.

A group requesting permission to do mining exploration at a site that already has cost millions in restoration has been fined more than $500,000 for conducting mining exploration without a permit.

A consent order drafted by Montana Department of Environmental Quality states that Blue Arc LLC, Luke Ployhar, Legacy Mining LLC and Owen Voigt will pay the fine, $516.567, for conducting exploration without a permit in the Little Rocky Mountains at the Zortman Mine just south of Fort Belknap Indian Reservation.

The consent order also requires Ployhar and Voigt to cease any exploration and mining activities at the properties until proper licenses and permits have been issued and a performance bond has been filed and to submit a plan for reclamation at the eight sites DEQ identifies as hwere exploration has occurred.

In the discussions leading up to the fine and consent order being drafted, Blue Arc sent a letter to DEQ April 15, 2022, in response to its violation letter sent to the company, the consent document said. The letter said Blue Arc was not exploring the properties for mining or extracting material for mining, but rather was developing several campground sites that will contain cabin, recreation vehicle, and tent sites.

The consent document says Ployhar sent a letter to Gov. Greg Gianforte June 2 where he also said he is trying to develop his property as a potential recreation site.

The consent document states that DEQ has determined that mining exploration has occurred on eight sites owned by Ployhar and details the sites and what activity DEQ found.

Watch for more in Thursday’s edition of Havre Daily News.