Nez Perce Tribe Statement on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Issuance of a Clean Water Act Section 404 Permit for the Stibnite Gold Project

Nez Perce Tribe Statement on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Issuance of a Clean Water Act Section 404 Permit for the Stibnite Gold Project

Lapwai, Idaho – On Monday, May 19, 2025, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced that it had issued a Clean Water Act Section 404 permit to Perpetua Resources Corporation for the Stibnite Gold Project, a large-scale open pit gold mine the company plans to construct in the headwaters of the East Fork South Fork (“EFSF”) Salmon River, within the Nez Perce Tribe’s (“Tribe”)  homeland. The EFSF Salmon River watershed provides irreplaceable habitat for Chinook salmon, steelhead, and bull trout—each listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act—as well many other species of fish, wildlife, and plants of deep significance to the Tribe’s culture and way of life.

“The Stibnite Gold Project poses an imminent threat to the Nez Perce Tribe’s Treaty rights and resources,” stated Shannon F. Wheeler, Chairman of the Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee. “Knowing the scope of Perpetua’s mine plan and the harm it will cause to the Tribe, we cannot understand how the Army Corps issued this permit.”

Section 404 permits are often referred to as “dredge and fill permits” because they authorize the dredging or filling of “Waters of the United States,” including qualifying wetlands. Under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, the Army Corps may not approve the discharge of dredge or fill material into Waters of the United States if a practicable alternative would be less damaging to the aquatic environment, or if the nation’s waters would be significantly degraded.

As authorized, however, the Stibnite Gold Project would cause profound damage to streams and wetlands in the project area. This includes inundating 423 acres of the Meadow Creek valley, a tributary to the EFSF Salmon River that provides important fish habitat, behind a 475-foot-tall impoundment of waste rock and toxic mine tailings.

The Army Corps’ issuance of Perpetua’s 404 permit follows the U.S. Forest Service’s authorization of mining activities on federally managed lands earlier this year. The Army Corps’ decision was hurried along by President Trump’s Executive Order (“E.O.”) regarding “Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production.” Among other measures, the E.O. set a series of rapid deadlines for agencies to identify priority projects for immediate permit approvals.  On April 18, 2025, the FAST-41 Permitting Council, established by Congress in 2015 under the Title 41 Fixing America’s Surface and Transportation (“FAST”) Act, identified the Stibnite Gold Project as among a list of mining projects designated for expedited review and treatment.

“The Tribe is not aware of any valid reason for the Army Corps or any other agency to speed up the permitting process for this mine,” stated Chairman Wheeler. “Perpetua’s continued focus on antimony and critical minerals does not change the fact that this is a gold mine, plain and simple. Given its location in the headwaters of one of the Tribe’s most important salmon fisheries, the Army Corps needed to fully and independently evaluate the project’s impacts before issuing a 404 permit. The Tribe will review the Army Corps’ decision closely once we receive it but at this point has serious doubts that the agency complied with the law.”

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