Stillwater Mining is scaling back mine development at its Marathon PGM-copper project on the north shore of Lake Superior.
The Montana-based miner announced Sept. 2 that only limited exploration work will take place during the current field season and any continuation will depend on “positive results.”
The company previously pegged its 2014 spending plan at Marathon to be in the $5 million to $10 million range, but that’s been curtailed to the $4 million to $6 million range.
Heading into the future, Stillwater expects to spend between $1 million to $3 million annually, “depending on the level of exploration activity.”
The company said it’s been exploring ways to improve the project economics, but the current market situation doesn’t “provide an acceptable economic return on the project.”
The permitting process has been put on hold, but the company has no plans to put the property on the block.
Stillwater said it will maintain tenure and will keep looking for ways to improve the project’s value.
