Hecla Mining Company

State environmental regulators last month dropped their case to disqualify Hecla Mining from getting future mining permits in the state. The company’s CEO was previously an executive with Pegasus Gold, which abandoned mines near the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in the ‘90s, costing taxpayers $35 million to clean up.

In 2018, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality sought to prevent Hecla Mining from getting future mining permits, citing CEO Phillips Baker Jr.’s past work as a vice-president of Pegasus Gold. Pegasus abandoned mines near the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in the ‘90s and cost state taxpayers over $35 million to clean up.

The proposed Montanore copper and silver mine in the Cabinet Mountains has experienced another setback. A state district court judge found Friday that a...