Gold Mining Company Will Pay $5 Million For Idaho River Cleanup

A gold mining company agreed to pay $5 million under a deal to improve water quality in the South Fork Salmon River in Idaho, settling allegations brought by the Nez Perce Tribe that mining activities contaminated the local watershed.

The tribe sued Perpetua Resources Corp., formerly known as Midas Gold Corp., and other mining companies, alleging that they illegally discharged toxic metals into the East Fork Salmon River—a major tributary of the South Fork—from their mining operations in the Stibnite Mining District.

Nez Perce says that the pollution degrades water quality and harms fish in their aboriginal homeland, where the ...