Page 15 - Flathead Beacon // 4.1.15

FLATHEADBEACON.COM NEWS APRIL 1, 2015 | 15 Idaho Company to Acquire Revett,
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Permanently Close Troy Mine
CEO John Shanahan says merger with Hecla offers best chance to open
Rock Creek Mine
By JUSTIN FRANZ of the Beacon
A Coeur d’Alene-based mining com- pany with large operations in Idaho, Alaska and Quebec, Canada is taking over the Revett Mining Company, Inc. and in the process will permanently close the Troy Mine.
Revett and Hecla Mining Company made a joint announcement about the acquisition on March 27. The transac- tion still needs to be approved by Re- vett’s shareholders but officials with both companies expect the deal to close sometime in June. In the proposed merger, Revett shareholders will get $20 million in Hecla stock.
Revett CEO John Shanahan called the announcement “bittersweet” be- cause while it meant the end of min- ing in Troy, the takeover also offered the best chance to permit and open the much larger Rock Creek Mine in nearby Sanders County. Rock Creek has been in the permitting process for years and Revett has estimated it could produce 229 million ounces of silver and 2 billion pounds of copper.
“This is good news for the Rock Creek project and for the local commu- nities,” Shanahan told the Beacon short- ly after the announcement. “Hecla has the capabilities to get this project across the finish line.”
The announcement was just the lat- est in a series of ups and downs for the Troy Mine in Lincoln County. In Janu- ary, after struggling to reopen for two years following a series of underground rock falls, Revett announced it was plac- ing the copper and silver mine into care- and-maintenance mode. The shuttered state meant that the mine could still be reopened in the future and earlier this year Shanahan said he was confident that would happen when copper and sil- ver prices rebounded.
In the past, Revett officials have said the Troy Mine was critical in helping the company eventually open the much larger Rock Creek Mine. If the deal goes through, Hecla will begin the reclama- tion process at the Troy Mine by tearing down buildings and permanently clos- ing off the mine.
“For Revett, the Troy Mine was im- portant because it gave us the operat- ing experience so that we could hit the ground running at Rock Creek. But Hecla has that operating experience from its operations in the Silver Valley,” Shanahan said. “In a few years from now you’ll be able to go to the Troy Mine site
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and never even know a mine was there.” Hecla was established in 1891 and owns two silver mines, the Greens Creek Mine in Alaska and the Lucky Silver Mine in Mullan, Idaho. It also owns an underground gold mine in western Que-
bec.
Hecla officials said they were inter-
ested in the Rock Creek project because of its untapped potential. Rock Creek, located near Noxon, is considered one of the largest undeveloped silver and cop- per deposits in North America.
“We are acquiring Revett with an eye to the future, as Rock Creek is another world-class silver-copper deposit that we see becoming another Greens Creek,” said Hecla’s CEO and President Phillips Baker Jr. in a prepared statement. “Our experience in Greens Creek operating in a National Monument in Alaska since 1997 will be invaluable as we take a pa- tient and persistent approach to per- mitting and then responsibly operating the Rock Creek Mine. Combining this operational expertise with our finan- cial strength, and an unwavering com- mitment to safety and building strong community relationships, gives us con- fidence that we are well-positioned to move Rock Creek forward, to the benefit of all stakeholders.”
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Municipal Matters
A recap of recent city council and county commission meetings
KALISPELL
At a work session last week, the city council once again reviewed a proposed parking district in the resi- dential neighborhoods near Flathead High School. The council did not take any action on the contentious propos- al, but did hear from members of the public who felt strongly one way or the other.
The proposal, which has been de- bated among school administrators, residents and city planners for almost two years, seeks to establish a bound- ary that would regulate parking in an area some say is heavily congested be- cause of the two schools. The restric- tions would be in effect from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday, on days when school is in session. With- in the designated boundary, the city could restrict parking to residents and homeowners through a permit-
ting system that would be enforced by city police officers. After receiving input from the schools as well as the residents spearheading the proposal, city planners have recommended be- ginning with a scaled-down version of the parking district.
Under the current proposal, Ka- lispell School District would create 35-38 parking spots at Elrod and 20- 25 spots at Flathead. If the district adds the new spaces in 2015, the city would implement resident-only re- strictions on Third Avenue West, Fourth Avenue West, south of Fifth Street West and north of Ninth Street West within in the boundaries of the parking district.
If the new spaces are not created at both schools, the city would add restrictions on all avenues south of Fifth Street West within the parking districtboundaries.
Residents within the parking dis-
trict could petition the city council to add or remove parking restrictions for their streets by gaining signatures from 75 percent of the property own- ers along the specific avenue. At least 75 percent of the parking along each street would have to remain occupied to maintain the permitting system.
A lack of residents purchasing per- mits could result in the city removing restrictions, according to the latest proposal. An exact amount for each permit has not been determined yet and will be set by the city council.
Councilor Jim Atkinson, who represents Ward 3 where the district would be, last week urged the council to move forward and adopt a policy. Others, including Mayor Mark John- son, said more research should be conducted before the city implements anything.
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