Lucky Minerals loses mining permit

Lucky Minerals no longer has a valid permit for a gold mining exploration project up Emigrant Gulch, Sixth Judicial District Court Judge Brenda Gilbert ruled in a lawsuit filed by local environmental groups.

Despite a May 2018 ruling by Gilbert that the Montana Department of Environmental Quality unlawfully approved the exploratory project, the Canadian mining company still had a valid permit — as long as it posted bond — for July 15 through Oct. 15 both last year and this year. Last year, the company never posted a bond and completed only non-penetrative exploration work.

That was because of a 2011 amendment to the Montana Environmental Policy Act that disallowed a court from stopping work on a project if it finds a state agency did not do enough analysis in approving the project.

In a ruling filed Friday afternoon, Gilbert found that the Montana Legislature violated the state constitution in approving the 2011 amendment.

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