Laura Lundquist

(Missoula Current) The owners of mining claims in the headwaters of the Bitterroot River have submitted a new plan of exploration, and the most notable difference is the use of a helicopter.

On Thursday, the Bitterroot National Forest released the most recent proposed plan of operations that US Critical Minerals Corporation submitted on June 12 related to its mineral exploration near Sheep Creek in the Bitterroot Mountains southwest of Darby.

Similar to a previous plan submitted on Dec. 5, the company still plans to sample or drill at four locations near the confluence of Sheep Creek and the West Fork of the Bitterroot River. Two of the locations are at former historical adits, or horizontal mine openings, where the company would enlarge the adits and do bulk sampling at one site and drilling at the other. Explosives will be used at the bulk sampling site.

One of the changes from the previous plan is that a third site is high on a ridge above Sheep Creek and the fourth site is near a tributary of Sheep Creek between the ridge and the second adit. Drilling will occur at those two sites also. Drilling will occur on one site at a time and the average depth will be 400 feet.

Drills, excavators, generators, and air compressors are the main equipment to be used onsite. Chainsaws will be used to eliminate some trees around the sites. Once the drilling or sampling is complete, each site will be reclaimed.

The biggest change from the previous plan is that all four sites will be primarily serviced by helicopter out of Conner, about 30 miles away. So the company will build wooden landing platforms at all four sites A utility task vehicle or UTV will be used to get from the landing platform at the end of Forest Service Road 5677 to the ridge-top site.

The operations will require sufficient water to lubricate equipment and control dust. Bulk sampling will require up to 300 gallons a day, which can be retained in a sump underground and recycled. Drilling requires up to 8,500 gallons a day, which will be recycled from a sump excavated at each site. A helicopter will sling water to the project site as needed from a source outside the project area.

The company proposed to start work on July 1 and the work would last one year. But on the project webpage, the Bitterroot Forest indicated it would conduct an environmental assessment and release its decision in July 2027 with an estimated start date of October 2027.

West Fork District Ranger Dan Pliley said in a Bitterroot Forest announcement that he is working with the company “to gather additional information needed prior to moving into environmental analysis and the appropriate level of analysis has yet to be determined.”

On Monday, US Critical Minerals Corp., a subsidiary of US Critical Metals Corp., announced it would move its headquarters to Darby from Salt Lake City, Utah, in anticipation of the project.

“Relocating our headquarters to Darby demonstrates our commitment in a tangible way,” said Scott Osterman, now the company’s chief executive officer, in Monday’s press release. “We are investing in Montana, establishing a local presence, and creating opportunities for people to engage directly with our team.”

In 1953, deposits of rare-earth metals were discovered in the 7-square-mile Sheep Creek Columbite Deposit Mine Site, and the site has been studied and sampled since the early 1960s. But there was little demand until now.

“Rare earth elements,” are 17 elements, dubbed “heavy metals,” that have various electronic and magnetic properties that make them useful in an ever-expanding array of electronic components, magnetic materials, lasers, industrial processes and rechargeable batteries used in electric vehicles.

After some initial mineral exploration in 2022, U.S. Critical Materials Corp. announced in January 2023 that it had discovered “the highest-grade (rare-earth element) deposit in the United States” among its 223 mining claims near Sheep Creek.

In May 2023, the Bitterroot National Forest announced that U.S. Critical Materials and U.S. Critical Metals Corp. had sent a Notice of Intent that they would continue exploring for rare-earth elements on their Sheep Creek claim. Since then, stiff local opposition has mounted against the project and the possible damage it could do to the Bitterroot River.

U.S. Critical Metals Corp. was incorporated in July 2019 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, by Darren Collins, and U.S. Critical Materials Corp., a related interest, was incorporated in Nevada on April 20, 2021.

On Dec. 5, 2025, US Critical Materials submitted a draft plan of operations for exploration. A few weeks later, the company learned the Federal Permitting Council had selected the Sheep Creek Project for FAST-41 permitting in mid-November. Then, in late March, the company rescinded its draft exploration plan with plans to submit a revised proposal. That was submitted in June.

Congress passed the FAST Act in 2015 to streamline the approval of federal transportation projects. But a year ago, the Trump administration started using the FAST Act to fast-track critical-mineral mining projects by limiting environmental review and reducing permitting requirements as part of Trump's American Energy Dominance program.

The Sheep Creek Project is one of five mine projects in Montana that have received FAST-41 permitting. As part of the FAST-41 program, the federal government provides US Critical Materials with insider advice and aid, including a project advisor to help with the permitting process and access to top agency managers including the Office of Management and Budget director and the Council on Environmental Quality chairman.

Contact reporter Laura Lundquist at lundquist@missoulacurrent.com.