Sheep Creek drilling plan delayed, but mine sampling in Bitterroot to continue in 2024

Mine explorers are free to continue work at Sheep Creek in 2024, but the company that wants to drill in the Bitterroot National Forest won’t be hauling heavy equipment there just yet.

U.S. Critical Materials had planned to submit an operations plan to drill near the head of the West Fork of the Bitterroot River this year, but it submitted another notice that it plans to do light work again from May 1 through Oct. 26.

The Bitterroot National Forest found the work doesn’t require the company to turn in a full operations plan for approval, and District Ranger Dan Pliley said Thursday the work will resemble sampling that took place in 2022 and 2023.

“They’re continuing to do their exploration and their field sampling,” Pliley said.

Ed Cowle, a director of the management team for U.S. Critical Materials, said the operations plan is taking more time in part because it is a “high profile” project. He said he anticipates it will be submitted sometime mid- or late summer.

“But there’s just a lot that has to go into the plan of operation being approved,” Cowle said. “And we’re working on a few things to be able to educate and give our views to the local citizens.” 

The project is controversial because it would take place near the headwaters of the Bitterroot and in an area with wolverines, Canada lynx, and sometimes grizzly bears. Commercial mining hasn’t taken place in this forest for decades.

Mining appeals to the company because it said initial samples show high concentrations of “rare earth elements,” minerals used in everything from iPhones to electric vehicles, and China controls a lot of the industry.

A Forbes analysis from 2023 said China has controlled these elements not because of their abundance but because mining them is environmentally destructive, and China has been less concerned about the damage than other countries.

So far, however, the work slated in Sheep Creek won’t even allow heavy mechanical equipment, according to the notice the company filed for 2024.

Exploration will include collecting soil samples of up to 2 pounds, getting samples of rocks from streams, and gathering rock chip samples of up to 5 pounds.

It also will include mapping accesses to adits, or mine openings, conducting geophysical mapping, and flying helicopters and drones to collect data about the property.

“There will be no surface disturbance associated with the survey,” said the notice from U.S. Critical Materials.

The notice describes using pickup trucks, SUVs, and similar 4-wheel drive vehicles.

Cowle said the company has explored just a third or so of the property to date, or roughly 1,000 acres so far, and will expand its sampling this season as soon as the snow melts.

He earlier said exploratory drilling — if approved in a future operations plan — would indicate if the materials underground match surface samples.

A coalition of 19 conservation groups including the Center for Biological Diversity already have urged the Bitterroot National Forest to keep the public engaged and adhere to requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act as the project advances.

Larry Campbell, with Friends of the Bitterroot, said Thursday expedited processes are possible with rare earth elements. Once the operations plan is submitted, he said, the Forest Service should avoid any path that cuts out the public — such as a categorical exclusion.

“It’s a really fast and dirty, superficial analysis,” Campbell said of the categorical exclusion. “And this area deserves more than a superficial analysis.”

Cowle said the company soon plans to reach out to locals to talk about plans and address some of the opposition, and it may open up a local office.

“We thought the smart thing and the right thing would be … to reach out and give some presentations,” he said. “And I think that will be happening very soon.”