BUTTE — A Montana official says the state’s mining future could lie in ordinary rock.
The Montana Standard reports that rock mining provides anything from construction gravel to decorative stone. Montana Department for Environmental Quality geochemist Garrett Smith said nearly half the state’s mining land is used for rock quarries and rock picking.
Smith made the remarks during a Thursday presentation at the Minerals and Mining Symposium at Montana Tech in Butte.
He said most rock mining is currently in Central Montana but could expand to the southwestern part of the state.
He said Whitehall’s Golden Sunlight is the only precious metal mine currently operating in the state and MR is the only current base metal mine.