Montana turns down cyanide initiative

Voters in Montana turned down a ballot measure that would have overturned an earlier state prohibition on the use of cyanide in gold or silver mining.

Ballot initiative I-147, which had been championed by mining interests in the state, had received about 42% support with 834 of 881 polling districts reporting.

The initiative, which would “allow open-pit mining for gold or silver using heap leaching or vat leaching with cyanide ore-processing reagents,” was in response to a 1998 ballot initiative, I-137, which placed a ban on the use of cyanide in heap- and vat-leach gold and silver mining operations. About 52% of voters approved I-137 in that year’s plebiscite.

The failure of I-147 this year was bad news for Canyon Resources (CAU-X), which had counted on the measure passing to permit its McDonald gold project in Lincoln Cty. Canyon had actively supported the initiative after failing to reverse the cyanide ban in the courts.