Massive Mine Layoffs: Montana Senators Propose Legislation

One of south-central Montana's largest employers announced on Thursday (9/12) that hundreds of workers are getting laid off. Sibanye Stillwater Mine employs roughly 1680 people in Montana. Reuters reports that 800 workers will be released, while Yellowstone Public Radio is reporting 700 job cuts.

These numbers represent roughly 40% of Sibayne's Montana workforce. The company says low metal prices for the last few years have made the mines unprofitable, citing a $394 million half-year loss in 2024.

Sibayne's mines near Nye, MT and the East Boulder mine near McLeod, MT will both experience job loss, with most of the cuts occurring at the Nye operations. The company plans to cut production by 200,000 ounces, reports Reuters.

Daines and Tester introduce bills to ban Russian imports of crucial minerals.

Montana Senators Steve Daines (R) and Jon Tester (D) both introduced bills to curb the import of critical minerals from Russia. Sibayne Stillwater is one of just a handful of mines in the world that specialize in palladium and platinum and its Montana operations are the only such mines in the United States. Russia, South Africa, and Canada are the top producers.

Both bills introduced are similar, with Daines' bill clarifying specific minerals (palladium, platinum, braggite, copper, nickel, rhodium, ruthenium, and zinc), while the wording in Testers' bill states "critical minerals" as defined by section 7002(a) of the Energy Act of 2020 (30 2 U.S.C. 1606(a).

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Senator Daines' bill also includes a termination clause, stating that the ban on Russian critical minerals would expire one year after the President certifies to Congress that the Government of the Russian Federation has ended all hostilities against Ukraine.

The impact of losing 700 to 800 good-paying Montana jobs will certainly have negative impacts on local economies in southcentral Montana.