Stibnite Advisory Council’s Independent Water Quality Monitoring Program Continues to Show Consistent Results at Stibnite Gold Project Site

DONNELLY, ID – The Stibnite Advisory Council’s Independent Water Monitoring Program reported consistent results between its ground and surface water data and that of Perpetua Resources in its third year of testing. The program was launched in 2021 to increase transparency around water quality conditions at Perpetua Resources’ proposed Stibnite Gold Project.   

“We know how important it is to give the communities we represent tools to verify information being shared by Perpetua Resources,” said Riggins and Idaho County Stibnite Advisory Council Member, Bob Crump. “Protecting access to clean water and safeguarding our beautiful watersheds is a value held by many Idahoans, so we’ve put a lot of focus into identifying how we can continue to increase transparency around water quality.” 

The Stibnite Advisory Council continued its contract with the University of Idaho’s Idaho Water Resources Research Institute to conduct the independent monitoring and reporting. Samples were collected on July 18 and August 8, 2023 under the oversight of the Idaho Water Resources Research Institute and Stibnite Advisory Council member John Sommerwerck. This was the second year the Stibnite Advisory Council sent a representative to observe the testing process. 

Water samples were collected from nine different sampling sites, plus two quality control sites in order to analyze 25 chemical components, known as analytes, for each location. This means a total of 275 samples were evaluated for both ground and surface water. The samples were collected from the same locations and split between Perpetua Resources and Idaho Water Resources Research Institute for analysis. Perpetua Resources sent its samples to SVL Analytical and Idaho Water Resources Research Institute sent its samples to Anatek Laboratory. Both are EPA-certified labs.

The data analyzed at the two, different labs showed consistent results. Groundwater data matched 97.5 percent of the time and the surface water results showed a 95.3 percent match.  Based on the results of surface and ground water comparisons in 2023 it can be concluded that there was strong interlaboratory agreement for both surface and groundwater results between Anatek and SVL laboratories.

Community members can review all of the data, a summary report and the full findings from Idaho Water Resources Research Institute on the Stibnite Advisory Council website at https://stibniteadvisorycouncil.com/water-monitoring/.   

The Independent Water Monitoring Program is set to continue in 2024 with samples scheduled to be collected during the summer months.  

# # #

The Stibnite Advisory Council provides a collaborative environment for local communities to work with Perpetua Resources throughout the life of the project and establishes a venue for cities and counties to address concerns and opportunities directly with the mining company. The council is comprised of the eight cities and counties that signed onto a community agreement with the company in late-2018. To learn more, visit www.StibniteAdvisoryCouncil.com.