Black Butte Copper Hosts MSU Class Tour

Although regular tours for the season have ended, the Black Butte Copper Project continues to educate select groups on the local mine and its ventures. Last week, Sandfire America’s project hosted a class from Montana State University in Bozeman as apart of a specialized activity for the college. The college class of “Advanced Regional Geography, Growth and Change in the American West” was taken through a Black Butte Copper tour at the mine’s location north of White Sulphur Springs. The university’s class was comprised of graduate and upper-level students. These individuals are taking the course in order to learn more about the challenges associated with development in areas that are “place-based.” These students are intended to learn the relationship between these developments and policies, economics, and the characteristics of people and populations that live in a particular region. Throughout their time in the course, students will also gain knowledge about how and why some projects are successful and why others fail depending on several factors. Additionally, the traditional idea of “development” is challenged and individuals are encouraged to rethink their own opinions and define the concept depending on a given local demographic’s environment. The Black Butte Copper Project fit appropriately into several key concepts of the class. The Black Butte Copper Project has a central mission of creating a mine with modern technology and world class methods. With this in mind, the project also takes into the account the criticism it has faced and will continue to face in today’s world with concerns relating to environmental impacts. In addition, the Black Butte Copper Project proclaims that their company attempts to keep in touch with residents of the Meagher County region and address any concerns that arise within the community about policies, finances, and more. Outside of giving specialized tours, the Black Butte Copper Project has been very active during the fall season. During the week of October 20, the project’s Vice President Communication and Government Relations, Nancy Schlepp, was a guest speaker at a distinguished luncheon. Schlepp gave a speech pertaining the Black Butte Copper Project at the National Association of Women in Construction Conference for the Northwest US. In early October, Schlepp was was able to sit down and discuss the mine’s techniques and community interactions with the Managing Director of the Arrupe Center for Research & Training in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mr. Touissant Murhala. Along with Schlepp’s active representations of the project, Kyle Nancey, a Black Butte Copper geologist, was the leader of an informational session in Butte. The session was at the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology Mineral Symposium. During the assembly, the main topic of interest was federally listed critical minerals. The list, accordingly, added copper to its ranks within the past year. Photos via Black Butte Copper Instagram Page (@blackbuttecopper)