Sandfire Resources America subsidiary Tintina Montana received Record of Decision (RoD) for a mine operating permit at at the Black Butte Copper project–which hosts nearly 11mn mt of 3pc copper.
With the permit secured, development and underground mining at the Johnny Lee deposit will soon begin. The deposit consists of one of the world’s highest copper grades, at 10.9mn mt of 2.9pc copper. This also includes a lower copper zone with a copper grade of 6.8pc.
The permit was granted by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, which also requires a financial bond calculation within 40 days to complete issuance of the RoD. After the bond is accepted, construction at the project will begin shortly thereafter.