A Helena judge has ordered Gov. Greg Gianforte to release state documents related to the Hecla Mining Corporation and the administration’s 2021 decision to drop a bad-actor case against Hecla’s CEO.
After capitalizing on a two-day lapse in a federal mining ban at Montana’s beleaguered Zortman-Landusky mines in 2020, a small mining company appears to have been developing its claims without the authorization of the state environmental agency.