WHITE SULPHER SPRINGS – The vice president of Canadian-based Tintina Resources, Inc. says the company is considering an underground mine to get at deep deposits of copper in western Montana.
Jerry Zieg says that high metal prices and renewed interest from investors creates the possibility of mining copper, silver and cobalt in an area about 15 miles north of White Sulphur Springs.
The company has been drilling scores of three-inch holes 2,500 feet underground to develop a three-dimensional view of the size of deposits that could be mined.
Zieg says the company is far from submitting a mine operating permit application, and first must put together a preliminary economic assessment and consider wildlife studies.
The area of a potential mine includes Sheep Creek, a major tributary of the Smith River.