Stillwater Mining Company engages in the development, extraction, processing, smelting and refining of palladium, platinum and associated metals (platinum group metals or PGMs) produced by mining a geological formation in south-central Montana known as the J-M Reef and recycling spent catalytic converters and other industrial sources.
The company also engages in expanding its mining development along the J-M Reef, and holds exploration-stage properties at the Marathon PGM copper property adjace...
Stillwater Mining Company engages in the development, extraction, processing, smelting and refining of palladium, platinum and associated metals (platinum group metals or PGMs) produced by mining a geological formation in south-central Montana known as the J-M Reef and recycling spent catalytic converters and other industrial sources.
The company also engages in expanding its mining development along the J-M Reef, and holds exploration-stage properties at the Marathon PGM copper property adjacent to Lake Superior in northern Ontario, Canada (Marathon) and at the Altar copper-gold property in San Juan Province, Argentina.
Segments
The company’s segments include Mine Production, PGM Recycling, Canadian Properties, and South American Properties.
The Mine Production segment consists of two business components, the Stillwater Mine and the East Boulder Mine. The Mine Production segment engages in the development, extraction, processing and refining of PGMs. The company sells PGMs from mine production under short-term and long-term sales agreements.
The PGM Recycling segment engages in recycling spent catalyst material to recover the PGMs contained in the material. The company either purchases the catalyst material processed by the PGM Recycling segment from third-party suppliers for its own account and sells the recovered metals directly, or it accepts catalyst material supplied from third-parties on a tolling basis, processing it for a fee and returning the recovered metals to the supplier.
The Canadian Properties segment consists mainly of the Marathon mineral property assets. The exploration-stage Marathon mineral properties include a major PGM and copper deposit located near the town of Marathon, Ontario, Canada, as well as additional mineral properties located adjacent to the Marathon properties.
The South American Properties segment consists of the Peregrine Metals Ltd. assets. The principal Peregrine asset is the Altar property, an exploration-stage copper-gold resource located in the San Juan province of Argentina.
Mining Operations
Stillwater Mine
The underground Stillwater Mine near Nye, Montana accesses, extracts and processes PGM ores from the eastern portion of the J-M Reef using mine openings located in the Stillwater River Valley. All surface structures and tailings management facilities are located within the 2,414 acre Stillwater Mine operating permit area, which is administered collectively by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the United States Forest Service (USFS). Ore reserves developed at the Stillwater Mine are controlled by patented mining claims either leased or owned outright by the company. The mine is located approximately 85 miles southwest of Billings, Montana and is accessed by a paved road.
The Stillwater Mine accesses and has developed a 6.8 mile-long underground segment of the J-M Reef, on various levels between 1,700 and 7,500 feet above sea level. The company is continuing to develop a decline system and additional principal mining levels to access and develop to the west and deeper areas in the central part of the mine.
The company processes ore from the Stillwater Mine through a surface concentrator facility (mill) adjacent to the Stillwater Mine shaft. The mill has a design capacity of 3,000 tons per day. During 2015, the company completed construction of the third and final permitted expansion of the Hertzler Tailings Facility allowing for tailings placement through approximately 2030 based on current operating parameters.
East Boulder Mine
The East Boulder Mine is located in Sweet Grass County, Montana, approximately 32 miles south of the town of Big Timber and is accessed by a public road. The East Boulder Mine is permitted independently of the Stillwater Mine and comprises a second distinct mining operation accessing the western portion of the J-M Reef. The mine consists of underground mine development and surface support facilities, including a concentrator, shop and warehouse, changing facilities, storage facilities, office and tailings management facility. All mine facilities are wholly-owned and operated by the company. Surface facilities for the East Boulder Mine are situated on unpatented mill site claims maintained on federal lands located within the Custer Gallatin National Forest and administered by the DEQ and USFS. All surface facilities, including the tailings management complex, are located within a 1,630 acre operating permit area. Proven and probable ore reserves for the mine are controlled by patented mining claims owned by the company. The company processes ore from the East Boulder Mine through a surface concentrator facility (mill) adjacent to the two portals.
Metallurgical Complex
Smelter
The company owns and operates a smelting facility situated along Interstate 90 in Columbus, Montana. The smelting facility consists of two electric furnaces, two top blown rotary converters, a matte granulator, and gas handling and solution regeneration systems.
Base Metal Refinery
The company’s base metal refinery is located on property that the company owns adjacent to the smelter in Columbus, Montana. The base metal refinery utilizes the patented Sherritt Process, whereby a sulfuric acid solution dissolves out the nickel, copper, cobalt and any residual iron from the PGM-bearing converter matte. The copper and nickel ultimately are marketed as by-products. The base metal refinery produces a palladium, platinum and rhodium-rich filter cake, which also contains minor amounts of gold and silver. Refined metals from the company's mine production are sold to Johnson Matthey Inc. and Tiffany & Co. and refined metals from the company's recycling segment are normally delivered to the company’s counterparties.
Exploration and Development
Montana, the U.S.A.
The J-M Reef has been explored from the surface along its entire 28-mile strike length by surface sampling and drilling which consists of a range of approximately 900 drill holes. A key element of the company’s development activities at its Montana mines consists of ongoing efforts to convert its probable ore reserves into proven ore reserves by extending the lateral and vertical development of the Stillwater and East Boulder mines, which provides access for definition drilling and evaluation.
The company is continuing to develop new mining infrastructure adjacent to its operations along the J-M Reef. The Blitz development includes three principal elements, such as a tunnel boring machine (TBM) targeting to drive approximately 23,000 feet of access tunnel to the east from the existing Stillwater Mine infrastructure; a second underground drift parallel to the TBM drive and approximately 600 feet above it, driven by conventional methods; and the permitting and construction of a new surface Benbow Exploration Portal Decline intended to intersect the two Blitz drifts approximately 4 miles to the east of the existing Stillwater Mine facilities.
Ontario, Canada
The Marathon properties are located 10 kilometers north of the town of Marathon, Ontario, on the eastern margin of the Coldwell Complex, a Proterozoic layered intrusion. During 2016, the company conducted a limited exploration program at Marathon. The company intends to test various exploration targets with a drill program at Marathon in 2017.
San Juan Province, Argentina
The company owns Peregrine Metals Ltd., a Canadian exploration company whose principal asset is the Altar project, a primary Andean Porphyry copper-gold deposit located in the San Juan Province of Argentina. The property consists of eight wholly-owned mining concessions and five optioned mining concessions.
The Altar project is located in the Andes Mountains of Argentina, approximately 10 kilometers from the Argentina-Chile border, and approximately 180 kilometers west of the city of San Juan. Altar is an exploration-stage project. The project is primarily a copper-gold porphyry deposit with potential for discrete peripheral gold system targets. The Altar deposit exhibits open mineralization in most directions.
Other Properties
The company owns a warehouse facility in Columbus, Montana and leases office space in Columbus, Montana and Littleton, Colorado. The company owns parcels of rural land in Stillwater and Sweet Grass counties in Montana near its mines and metallurgical complex and additional commercial properties in the communities of Columbus and Big Timber, Montana. Subsidiaries of the company own residential and commercial properties in Marathon, Ontario, which are used as support facilities for operations and exploration projects at the Marathon properties.
Customers
During 2016, Johnson Matthey Inc. purchased all of the company's mined PGM production (excluding the platinum ounces delivered under a separate agreement with Tiffany & Co.).
Regulatory and Environmental Matters
The company is aware that federal regulation under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act governing the manner in which secondary materials and by-products of mineral extraction and beneficiation are handled, stored and reclaimed or reused is subject to frequency review by the regulatory agencies, which could affect the company’s facility design, operations, and permitting requirements.
The company also generates industrial wastes that are subject to the requirements of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and comparable state statutes. The company annually reports to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the United States Forest Service, and/or the Montana Department of Environmental Quality releases of hazardous or toxic substances to the extent they exceed certain federal and state thresholds.
The company’s operations are subject to the federal Clean Air Act and comparable state and local laws and regulations. In an effort to protect the health of the company's workforce, the company employs various measures to ensure it is complying with Mine Safety and Health Administration limits on diesel particulate matter exposure for underground miners.
The company’s underground operations at the Stillwater and East Boulder mines are in compliance with Mine Safety and Health Administration’s existing stringent diesel particulate matter standards.
History
Stillwater Mining Company, a Delaware corporation, was founded in 1992. The company was incorporated in 1992.
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