There’s an old expression in the mining business that still rings true today, especially for Idaho: Mines never close; they wait for metal prices to move higher.

A large portion of the editorial coverage in this edition of E&MJ focuses on mining activities in Idaho. It was purposely timed to coincide with the annual conference of the Idaho Mining Association, which will be held in Boise during late October.

During July, I spent a week in the Silver Valley visiting mines and talking to project developers. It’s a beautiful part of the world and I would like to thank all the mining executives and mine managers that took time out of their schedules to work with me on profiling their operations in E&MJ.

I visited three mines near Kellogg, Idaho: the Bunker Hill mine, the Sunshine mine and the Golden Chest mine. Each are in various stages of growth. Sunshine (the cover story) is preparing for a restart. Bunker Hill has restarted and is approaching commercial production. The Golden Chest mine is an established small gold mine and its owner, Idaho Strategic Resources, is expanding its footprint. While each operation was different, they had a lot in common.

All of them were mines that could trace their roots to the late 1800s or early 1900s. They were combining data from active exploration drilling programs with historic data to create geologic models to better interpret the orebody. The old timers could never imagine the tools that modern developers have at their disposal and take for granted.

Robust prices for precious metals and demand for critical minerals has provided all three with access to capital. Armed with a better understanding of steeply dipping, narrow vein deposits, they were considering a move away from the traditional underhand cut-and-fill mining method in favor of long-hole stoping with modern drilling equipment. All of them were installing new cemented backfill systems to stow tailings underground and provide better ground control.

More importantly, they were providing safe, well-paying jobs. Miners who had migrated to other areas were coming home. With the help of experienced hands, all of these operations were training the next generation of managers, engineers, geologists and miners. The same thing is happening in the southern part the state and, in the next few years, a half a dozen mines will likely be commissioned. A generational uplift in mining is taking place in Idaho.

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