Perpetua Resources chooses Iron Woman Construction for cleanup at historic Idaho mine site

Staff Writer | April 13, 2023 | 4:04 pm Careers 
Site visit: Perpetua Resources' Gold Stibnite project in Idaho named preferred alternative – US Forest Service
Yellow Pine pit at the Stibnite Gold project in Idaho. Image: Amanda Stutt.

Perpetua Resources Corp. (Nasdaq: PPTA / TSX: PPTA) announced Thursday it has selected Iron Woman Construction and Environmental Services to conduct environmental improvements in the historical Stibnite Mining District in Idaho this year.

Iron Woman is a Native American Member-owned company with extensive experience resolving water infrastructure, environmental, mining and logistics challenges across the Rocky Mountains and Idaho.

Beginning in early summer, Iron Woman will support Perpetua Resources to move legacy mine waste away from sensitive waterways on site and continue efforts to restore impacted riparian areas.

Work will include removing between 300,000 and 325,000 tons of legacy waste and tailings away from rivers on-site, safe storage of the material, and significant restoration work surrounding the rivers.

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“We did not cause the problems facing the historical Stibnite Mining District, but we are proud to be part of the solution and look forward to continuing our work to improve water quality on site,” Perpetua CEO Laurel Sayer said in a statement.

“In 2022, we made significant progress to address decades-old problems by isolating streams from historically contaminated material along with other contamination removal actions. Now, I am excited to welcome Iron Woman to our team to continue this important work,” Sayer said.

“I am confident that our shared commitments to prioritize safety, community, and sustainability will help our efforts to leave Stibnite better than we found it.”

In 2021, Perpetua was granted permission from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to conduct time critical early action cleanup activities at the abandoned Stibnite mine site.

Cleanup work under the first phase of the agreement started in 2022 and, after a competitive bidding process, Iron Woman was selected by Perpetua Resources to help with cleanup activities planned for 2023.

Iron Woman is expected to start work in June with a team of over 30 people, largely recruited from the local region, focused on removing waste from three areas of site that parallel the East Fork of the South Fork of the Salmon River.

Cleanup activities will be overseen by the EPA and USDA.