Mine reopening lifts battered Butte

BUTTE, Mont. — The steel-toed boot index at Miller's Shoe Store is looking strong, an encouraging uptick in a city where economic setbacks have become a way of life.

Miller's is selling more work boots now that Montana Resources is mining again, extracting copper and molybdenum from a pit dug in 1980.

"As soon as they started hiring, the guys needed steel-toed, industrial boots," said Dan McElroy, Miller's owner.

Citing exorbitant electricity prices, Montana Resources halted mining at its Continental Pit in July 2000, laying off all but five of 327 employees.

The closure was yet another disappointment for a town that has seen its share of hardship.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the demand for copper wire to electrify the nation caused Butte to boom. In 1920 Butte was a thriving city of 100,000, many of them immigrants from Europe who came to work the copper mines. The boom didn't last, however, and after years of decline the population has dropped to just 34,000 or so, as mining companies went elsewhere for riches.

But Montana Resources decided last August to reopen the mine. The company said it had secured a new contract for its power supply and wanted to capitalize on strong copper prices.

Workers were hired and trained, and on Nov. 17 they processed the first ore. The company now employs 351 people receiving pay and benefits that average $42,800 a year, plus profit sharing.

The reopening is a rare bit of economic prosperity for Butte these days and has brought some renewed optimism.

"When you have 350 good paychecks added to the economy, some of the best paychecks in town, it makes a difference to every retailer, to car dealers, restaurants," said Evan Barrett of the Butte Local Development Corp. "People are more optimistic, and with reason. There's an economic reality to it."

But the mine is the only one operating in Butte, and its future depends on a lot of factors, including what happens to copper prices. The Continental Pit was mined by the Anaconda Co. from 1980-83, then closed until Montana Resources arrived on the scene in 1986, mining until the shutdown four years ago.

The reopening of the mine largely offset job losses in other segments of Butte's economy last year, according to the Montana Department of Labor and Industry.