Montco v. Simonich

This is an appeal from a summary judgment by the Thirteenth Judicial District Court, Yellowstone County, which allowed Monteo to renew a mining permit and denied summary judgment to the intervenors, Northern Plains Resource Council, Native Action, and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe. The intervenors appeal. We reverse.

The decisive issue is whether Montco’s mining permit terminated because of Montco’s failure to begin mining operations, with the result that the permit could not be renewed.

*283Background

In 1984, the Montana Department of State Lands (DSL) issued a five-year surface mining permit to…