After the state originally announced that it would dump the tailings directly into the Berkeley Pit, and then decided to put the waste dirt on a ramp to the pit instead. Then, an alternate plan was announced in which the tailings would be dumped on Montana Resources property. Under that plan, MR would have moved the tailings to a leach pad eventually and processed them to remove the recoverable metals.

Last month, it was announced that the state and Montana Resources could not come to agreement on the specifics of the leaching plan, including indemnifying each other for potential legal liability. Then the state said it would go back to the Berkeley pit ramp plan. But that, too, required an agreement. Montana Resources has indicated it is willing to provide an access agreement to the state — but due to its contractual obligations, MR needs a sign-off from ARCO to grant that agreement. ARCO has refused to go along.

“In our view,” the ARCO spokesman said, “Placing the excavated material on the active mine site where it could be reprocessed, would be a safer and lower-cost solution than disposal on the ramp in the Berkeley Pit. Atlantic Richfield would strongly support reprocessing in the active mine site."

Harris said the state "is in contact with ARCO at just about every level" and expects to keep working toward an agreement.