Max Baucus: “The problem from Montana's perspective is that the Stillwater Mine has only recently begun to recover its costs of…”

“The problem from Montana's perspective is that the Stillwater Mine has only recently begun to recover its costs of production as the price of palladium has stabilized at a level sufficient to justify operation of the mine. Because of the improvements in price, Stillwater Mining Co. has announced an intention to double its production of palladium beginning in mid-1997. The doubling of production will increase the number of high-paid underground mining jobs by approximately 400. In Montana, these jobs are extremely important to our economic health.”