A Canadian mining company began electromagnetic surveys of a property north of Butte last month, which could potentially lead to the first new copper mine in the region in almost 20 years.
Canadian headquartered Peloton Minerals announced in August it had started an electromagnetic survey on the Boulder Porphyry Property, a plot of mining claims 16 miles northeast of Butte.
The 14-square-mile property was first explored by the Anaconda Company in the 1960s and by smaller mining operations in the early 2000s.
Peloton acquired the property in August 2021 through a subsidiary, Celerity Mining.
Peloton and Celerity said in a news release that an “extensive review of historical geophysical data” from the earlier explorations led the company to begin the survey, with the focus on determining whether Main Stage Vein copper lies deep beneath the surface.
Main Stage Veins are huge ribbons of high grade ore that produced the vast majority of Butte's copper during the town’s mining heyday.
A timeline for when potential mining might begin is still unclear. Once the survey is complete, Celerity and Peloton will have to compile a technical report on their findings. Any potential digging would likely be years down the road.
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