Proposed for the draft critical minerals list published in the national registrar this week are minerals including copper, silver and lead, along with minerals facing continued strife from global competition.
Sibanye-Stillwater in southcentral Montana is the country’s primary producer of platinum group metals like palladium. Heather McDowell with Sibanye says those metals are being recommended for inclusion once again, which means the company could take advantage of tax breaks.
“Now that the section 45X tax credit is available, it really does matter because that ability to claim the 10 percent of production tax credit ties back to the critical minerals list,” said McDowell. “So for us, now it becomes of utmost importance whether what we’re producing remains on the list.”
Sibanye-Stillwater cites low palladium prices and competition from Russia as contributing to its layoff of hundreds of employees last year. McDowell says Russia remains a threat to domestic production, and Sibanye, supported by the Montana congressional delegation, hopes for restrictions against Russian palladium imports.
Another Montana company hoping the new list will scale up production is Sandfire Resources America, which is developing the Black Butte Copper mine at its permit site near White Sulphur Springs.
Nancy Schlepp, Sandfire’s vice president of communications and government relations, says copper development faces limited smelter capacity, long timelines and other barriers to scaling up production.
“I think the important part for projects is going to be certainty,” she said. “Right now, especially with federal projects, there’s a very lengthy time to get through permitting projects.”
Environmental groups earlier this year lost a multi-year case arguing development of the Black Butte Copper mine would endanger water quality.
The draft critical mineral list was published in the federal registrar on Tuesday and is open for 30 days of public review.
