Heather McDowell

A couple of weeks remain before the 700-some layoffs Sibanye Stillwater announced in September begin to take effect.

Hundreds of employees are set to lose their jobs after the country’s biggest producer of palladium and platinum announced sweeping layoffs to take effect starting November 12, but who will be getting pink slips is still largely unknown.

The company Thursday announced roughly 700 people, about 40 percent of staff, will be losing their jobs.

A working group the Biden Administration tasked with finding ways to update 151-year-old laws for mining hardrock minerals like copper and nickel issued a set of proposed reforms ranging from first-time fees to improved public outreach.

A bill that would prohibit forced private union membership as a job condition in Montana drew lengthy public testimony Tuesday. Republican Rep. Caleb Hinkle of Belgrade told lawmakers his adamant support for right-to-work legislation comes from his time working at a unionized grocery store in 2013.