Projects

Elkhorn Creek, Mine, and Mill

Since 2020, BHWC and partners have been working together to create a restoration plan for the area around the historic Elkhorn Mine and Mill, including Elkhorn Creek. This project is off the Pioneer Mountain Scenic Byway near Wise River in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest. Project partners are listed below.

Project Description

Area History

Mining for gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc occured in the Elkhorn area from 1872-1965. The mining camp of Coolidge was formed in 1914, and the Elkhorn Mill was operational from 1922-1950. The project ultimately failed because of the inability of the mine to meet the capacity of the processing facilities and the high cost of transportation, power, and processing due to the area’s remote location.

Impairments

The historic Elkhorn Mine caused significant, ongoing impacts to water quality and aquatic life in Elkhorn Creek and downstream, the Wise River. The mining resulted in the export of thousands of tons of sediment and heavy metals to downstream reaches of Elkhorn Creek, Wise River, and the Big Hole River. While heavy metal concentrations have decreased dramatically since mining activity ceased (and some reclamation and remediation occurred in the early 2000s), Elkhorn Creek still exceeds heavy metals standards for aquatic life and provides poor quality habitat for native Westslope Cutthroat trout and Arctic grayling. The largest environmental concern in the area is an active flowing adit (horizontal mine shaft) that discharges an estimated 150 gallons-per-minute of orange-ish brown, metal-laden waters into Elkhorn Creek. There are also old waste dumps with seeps that flow into the creek. While past restoration activities made some improvement to these environmental hazards, the site requires further restoration.

Project Background

Since 2020, BHWC and partners have been conducting studies and investigations to learn more about the site and the extent of the problem.

2020 – Site Characterization and Investigation

In the spring of 2020, BHWC was awarded funds from the DNRC’s Reclamation and Development Grants Program and DEQ’s 319 Volunteer Monitoring Lab Analysis Program to investigate legacy impacts from historic, underground hard-rock mining in and around the Elkhorn Mine and Mill (Coolidge Ghost Town) on the Beaverhead Deerlodge National Forest.

During the summer of 2020, BHWC hired Watershed Consulting to monitor the site to gain a better understanding of the degree and extent of water quality exceedances and heavy metal contamination in Elkhorn Creek and the vicinity of the mine and mill. The goal of the site characterization was to investigate the extent to the ongoing contamination and ways in which to stop and/or slow this toxic water from entering Elkhorn Creek. An aerial topographic (LiDAR) survey was also flown summer 2020. The LiDAR data is another major component to this project. Both the site characterization and the LiDAR survey will be used to inform future restoration decisions.

2021 – Site Characterization and Investigation

During the summer of 2021, BHWC hired WindenWater to continue site characterization and investigation work around Elkhorn Creek. Surface water quality data collection, PCB screening data collection, and a preliminary soils characterization were all part of the scope of work. Data collected during this year has helped inform current and future restoration decisions.

2022 – Soils Characterization and Fungal Absorption Pilot Study

In 2022, Pioneer Technical Services conducted a Soils Characterization Report meant to determine if the site is releasing or has the potential to release hazardous substances or contaminates into the surrounding environment and also determine the volume of contaminated materials (tailings) still present in and around the project areas. The Soils Characterization found that a total volume of 59,514 cubic yards of heavy-metal-laden mine wastes are still on site and are in need of removal (see the figures in the photos section).

BHWC also partnered with Montana BioAgriclture on a pilot study to clean acid mine drainage using mycelia, which are root-like networks of fungal threads. Running 500 gallons through the filter showed dramatic decreases in zinc, copper and other metals using fungal biomass as an ion exchange filter. While the process has already shown to be successful in the lab, this was the first large-scale demonstration of such technology.

Next steps: We have secured funding to develop a 30% remedy, co-designed by the mycologists (MBAI) and the engineers (Pioneer Technical) to remove the 59,514 CY of tailings. We will continue to fundraise and develop the designs to 100% and move toward implementation.