Republican bill to limit gold mines gets U.S. Senate nod

A grassroots effort to stop two proposed gold mines in Paradise Valley is hopeful that a permanent solution is coming, after the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee unanimously passed the Yellowstone Gateway Protection Act on Tuesday morning. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Jon Tester and Rep. Greg Gianforte, has now cleared committees in both houses, and supporters are hopeful that it will become law during Congress’s lame duck session later this year. The bill would permanently ban mining on 30,000 acres of Custer Gallatin National Forest, an area that includes two proposed gold mines. Lucky Minerals is a Canadian company that has proposed a gold mine at Emigrant Gulch that contains leases on public and private lands in the Custer Gallatin National Forest. Crevice Mountain Mining Company has a proposed mine near Jardine, near the north border of Yellowstone National Park. The bill would make both mines less feasible because the companies, which currently claim to have private leases in the national forest, would not be able to expand onto surrounding public land...MORE