13 minute read
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.
Mining 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. 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
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.
and removing waste. “
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.
“If you can’t grow it, you gotta mine it”
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.
“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”. 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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M3 Engineering & Technology Corporation
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.
Founded in 1986 in Tucson Arizona, M3 continues to grow with offices in Chandler Arizona, Charlotte North Carolina, Hermosillo Mexico, Arequipa Peru, Santiago Chile, and Buenos Aires Argentina. M3’s diverse staff of over 600 people has project experience in over 30 countries and fluent in more than 17 languages. Centered in a region with significant mining and astronomical projects, we are well known both domestically and internationally for our contributions to these industries.
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Jessica Largent, CFO, Perpetua Resources
Perpetua Resources
Challenging Industry Norms
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.
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.
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“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”.
Both the CEO and CFO want Perpetua Resources to help and encourage more women to move into the mining sector.
Keep the feedback flowing
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.
“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.”
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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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
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Warm Springs Consulting
Warm Springs Consulting works with high-impact industries, businesses, and governments to leverage sustainability as a strategic and profitable advantage.
For the past two decades, we have worked on sustainable solutions for mining, manufacturing, energy, agriculture, defense, transportation, technology, and waste sectors.
Founded in Idaho, we are straightforward, transparent and committed to ensuring a high-level quality of work. With a diverse team, we work collaboratively with a broad range of global mining clients on both technical and social aspects of sustainability. Hablamos español.
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