Perpetua Resources
As Good As Gold
PROJECT DIRECTED BY
WRITTEN BY
Gary Smith
Laura Watling
Perpetua Resources
Laurel Sayer, CEO, Perpetua Resources
As Good As Gold Driven by the desire to restore an abandoned mine and its surrounding habitat, as well as bring supply of antimony back to the US, Perpetua Resources is built on passion. The team are in it for the long haul - the mine isn’t planned to be operational until 2027. CEO, Laurel Sayer, and CFO, Jessica Largent, explain why this project is so important to the future of America.
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ining in Idaho isn’t big news. In fact, Idaho is known as the ‘Gem State’, mining a diverse range of minerals from copper and lead to gold, silver and phosphorus. What is unique about Perpetua Resources and its Stibnite Gold Project is its desire to work for the greater good and focus on responsible mining.
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Established in 2010 under its original name of Midas Gold, Perpetua Resources’ vision is to develop and operate one of the largest, highest grade, open pit gold mines. As part of that project, it will improve water quality, regenerate fish passage and restore legacy waste sites. In 2021 the business changed its name to better reflect its vision. “‘Esto Perpetua’ is above Idaho’s state seal,” explained CEO Ms Sayer, “It translates to ‘Let it be perpetual’, in reference to the state’s vast resources and is what we believe the Stibnite Gold Project can bring to Idaho, its people, and America. Perpetua Resources offers a more sustainable and secure future”. The Stibnite Gold Project The Stibnite gold mine, based in central Idaho, was first mined in 1899, during the Thunder Mountain Gold Rush. It’s played many roles in history, including its critical support to the US war effort in the 1940s and ‘50s. Over 20 years ago, however, all mining activity stopped. “There was a limited clean up by the government,” said Ms Sayer, “but as with most governments
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Perpetua Resources there is simply not the money to take on large scale restoration projects like this. That’s where we come in”. The aim of the Stibnite Gold Project is not just to reclaim the land after mining, but to restore the entire area. “We are committed to creating a project that will leave the environment in a better condition than we found it,” shared CFO, Ms Largent, “Not only will we be providing a key mineral, antimony, to the US market, we will be improving the local water quality, reconnecting streams to improve fish migration, and removing waste”. The project has involved several environmental studies to help inform permit applications. The Company has recently published a Sustainability Roadmap, outlining 13 ESG goals to further support their commitments.
Resources Feature Currently, 90% of the world’s antimony supply comes from China, Russia and Tajikistan. “We want to elevate responsible mining in the US. We know that the Stibnite Gold Project can provide 35% of the US demand for antimony in its first 6 years,” said Ms Sayer. The current US Administration has highlighted the importance of ensuring a more secure supply chain of antimony. This has been raised not only due to supply chain restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but also the current geopolitical unsteadiness. “There’s a saying in the industry, “If you can’t grow it, you gotta mine it”, and ultimately, we can do it better, and more responsibly, here at home” said Ms Sayer.
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Not only will we be providing a key mineral, antimony, to the US market, we will be improving the local water quality, reconnecting streams to improve fish migration and removing waste.
Leading with Science® to improve people’s lives
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Since 2011, the Stibnite Project has planted nearly 58,000 trees, and in the last 9 years has recycled nearly 5000lb of material. It has also produced over 38,000 kWh of solar power since 2015 - all before production at the mine has even started.
As much as the sustainability aspects of the project are impressive, there is of course gain to be made from mining in the district. It’s here that the little known, but commonly used, chemical element of antimony is found.
3380 Americana Terrace Boise, ID 83706 (208) 389-1030
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Perpetua Resources has relied on M3 Engineering & Technology Corp. for process and plant engineering services since 2013. M3 has worked closely with Perpetua to support and reinforce its vision for responsible resource development and environmental restoration. This is manifested in the layout of both on-site and off-site facilities to preserve sensitive environments, minimize disturbance, and avoid geological and environmental hazards. The cooperative relationship has enabled M3 to assist Perpetua and its consultants to create a comprehensive approach to resource management that minimizes impacts and facilitates reclamation and rehabilitation of the site. M3 and its consulting partners developed a process design that was flexible enough to process and maximize recoveries for sulfide and oxide ores, with and without recovery of a saleable antimony concentrate. The innovative autoclave process design controls the generation of acid, reduces gold sequestration, and enables arsenic stabilization to mitigate potential environmental impacts. M3’s water management system design enables maximum flexibility in water use to respond to variable storm and snow melt conditions while conserving groundwater and minimizing treatment of contact water for discharge. M3 is proud to stand with Perpetua Resources to advance this project to provide a U.S. source of strategic minerals and facilitate the restoration of this environmentally sensitive, historically impacted mining area. M3 is eager to apply its extensive Engineering, Procurement, and Construction Management experience to assist Perpetua Resources in making the Stibnite Gold Project an exemplary mining and restoration operation.
“If you can’t grow it, you gotta mine it”
“Antimony is a key component that is found in a diverse range of applications,” explained Ms Sayer, “from flame retardants and alloys used in munitions, to low-cost energy storage batteries. It’s a very versatile mineral”.
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Resources F
Perpetua Resources Challenging Industry Norms
Keep the feedback flowing
At the core of the Stibnite Gold Project is its people. “It’s important for us to recruit people that not only have the skill set required, but those that are also passionate about our vision. At Perpetua Resources we’re in it for the long-term benefit for all our stakeholders, so we need to build a team that’s bought-in at every level, even in administrative roles,” explained Ms Largent.
Staff are passionate about the project because it is “in their backyard”, and the involvement of the local Idahoans isn’t exclusive to its staff.
As the team is built on having a shared purpose, there’s a feeling that everyone’s opinions are respected and a shared ‘can do’ approach. “I think the feeling is unique, it’s not something I’ve experienced before. Even our consultants have mentioned it,” said Ms Sayer proudly. A distinctive and attractive quality of the business is that the management team is 67% female led. This is, of course, particularly unique to the mining industry.
At Perpetua Resources we’re in it for the long-term benefit for all our stakeholders, so we need to build a team that’s bought-in at every level, even in administrative roles.
The project’s latest Environmental Impact Study, which was released in August 2020, saw 10,000 responses. 85% of which were positive. The feedback helped to form improved plans, including a 10% reduction of volume mined and a 70% reduction in one of the open pit’s size.
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“I operate an open-door policy,” said the CEO, “our plan is to be guided by a commitment to Idaho’s resources and people. We want the feedback from the public and the industry to help us to continue to improve our plans.”
“It’s something that attracted me to Perpetua Resources,” shared Ms Largent, “there is a level of care and empathy to how the business is run and engages with community partners that I think has been driven by the women in leadership.” Ms Sayer, too, feels that the high presence of women in the business is part of what makes it run so well. “I don’t like to play into gender stereotypes, particularly as we have female engineers and machine operators on our site. However, I do believe women have a different ability to problem solve and think outside of the box”.
Jessica Largent, CFO, Perpetua Resources
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Both the CEO and CFO want Perpetua Resources to help and encourage more women to move into the mining sector.
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Perpetua Resources Strategic Supply of a Critical Resource The biggest challenge facing the project at present, is jumping through the many proverbial government permitting hoops. This is where the diversity of experience between CEO and CFO comes to the fore. In previous roles, Ms Sayer has worked in natural resource policy making for congress, while Ms Largent has a mining background. “We’re learning from each other daily,” said Ms Largent. Whilst waiting for permit authorisation, the Stibnite Gold Project is well capitalised to continue. In August 2021, Perpetua Resources announced its antimony supply agreement for Ambri battery production. The antimony supplied will power Ambri’s low-cost battery for long-duration, daily cycling energy storage. Perpetua Resources has committed to supply enough antimony to generate over 13 gigawatt hours of storage - eight times the size of the entire US energy storage market in 2020. This amount of storage is enough to power approximately 1 million American homes with solar power for the 20+ year life span of the batteries. “The Stibnite Gold Mine project will strategically supply a critical resource,” explained Ms Sayer, “not only is this going to be hugely advantageous to the clean energy market, it will also offer benefits for the government’s Defence Production Act.” With final permit results due in late 2023, the site plans to be operational by 2027. “While permitting in the US can take a long time given the strict environmental standards, once we get the permit, it’s as good as gold,” said Ms Largent www.perpetuaresources.com
Western States Cat Western States Cat has been serving surface and underground mining operations in our territory for over 65 years. What began as four service branches has grown into a much larger, award-winning organization, covering an area over 191,000 square miles with 14 general line and truck engine branches, and 13 Cat® Rental Stores. The company has a proud history of acquisition, growth, and serving our communities. In fact, our communities are the center of our purpose: Building our Communities for a Better Tomorrow. We believe that our business helps make communities stronger, cleaner, and more productive, not just with our products and services, but through our people. We are dedicated to helping safely and sustainably build schools to educate the next generations, provide power to hospitals that keep our loved ones healthy, build and maintain roads so goods can be transported where needed, help supply water to our farmers’ crops so they can supply the world with food, and so much more. In short, we believe that protecting our environment and giving back to the communities in which we live and work are critical to our success. Also critical to our success is connecting technology, data and people with our customers to build exceptional client experiences and foster innovative thinking to improve quality and efficiency. Cat® MineStar™ solutions for surface and underground operations can help you improve every aspect of your operation. Our technology increases drilling precision, loading and hauling productivity, and dozing and grading safety & accuracy. We partner with you to maximize efficiency while protecting the health and safety of your miners and the environment. In fact, health, safety and environmental sustainability are built into every product we sell. Through innovation and partnership, we help mines operate as efficiently and safely as possible while reducing impact to the place we love. Together we can produce more, consume less, and preserve quality of life for present and future generations.
WE LOVE WHAT WE DO & WHERE WE DO IT. Western States Cat has been Idaho’s authorized dealer of Caterpillar equipment, parts, and service since 1956. Through innovation and partnership, we help mines operate as efficiently and safely as possible while reducing impact to the place we love. Together we can produce more, consume less, and preserve quality of life for present and future generations. TOGETHER
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