Bitterroot Sheep Creek Mine Raises Environmental Concerns

A draft operations plan for the Sheep Creek rare-earth project has been submitted to the Bitterroot National Forest, Forest Ranger Dan Pliley announced, beginning a collaborative review before the Forest Service decides the appropriate level of NEPA analysis.

The project remains on the administration’s FAST-41 fast‑track list; an environmental assessment is slated to begin March 23 and could run about a year, though the timetable depends on application completion. The fast-track designation follows recent federal moves to streamline critical-mineral permitting and to narrow NEPA procedures for Forest Service actions.

Community groups and local officials say the submitted plan describes a much larger operation than company representatives previously portrayed. It outlines frequent heavy-haul traffic (eight to ten side-dump loads per day), an underground process-water system with contingency withdrawals from Sheep Creek or the West Fork, explosives and fuel storage, and handling of waste that may contain radioactive elements, arsenic, lead and potentially asbestos.

Scientists and advocacy groups warn of risks to headwater water quality and streamflow; one assessment suggests the operation could divert as much as 285 million gallons per year. Opponents have petitioned county and federal officials to remove the project from the fast-track list.

U.S. Critical Materials says it is developing an electrochemical membrane extraction process with Idaho National Laboratory that would use electricity, water and nitrogen and “no chemical reagents.”