The final wording of a section of the Inflation Reduction Act is going to give the owners of the Stillwater Mine in southeast Montana a 10 percent tax credit on majority of its costs, a company official said Friday.
The tax credit means that South Africa-based Sibanye Stillwater can do more projects at the mine, but it will not affect the company's previously announced plan to lay off nearly 700 workers.
Nevertheless, the union representing the largest number of hourly workers still views the news as a positive, saying that it could mean more jobs in the future.
Months after announcing the layoffs, the mine was handed a much-needed boost when the U.S. Department of Treasury rewrote and clarified the rules, giving the company a credit on its mining of platinum and palladium.
“They understood the importance of incentivizing critical minerals production right here in the U.S.,” said Heather McDowell, Sibanye Stillwater vice-president.
Related: Stillwater miners take to 'reverse career fair' as layoffs approach
McDowell says the original rule allowed only the refiner of the critical minerals to claim the tax credit.
Stillwater does nearly 70 percent of the work before sending the minerals to a refiner.
Now, the IRS and the Treasury Department recognize that.
“It's a really meaningful change at Treasury on an issue that is frankly controversial on the federal level,” McDowell said. “We really appreciate the consideration that Treasury gave our situation.”
The credit will help the company as it pursues capital projects over the next 15 years.
“There's a lot of shaft maintenance,” said Dan Beluscak, president of the United Steel Workers Local 11-0001, which represents the miners. “There's a lot of just old installations.”
Beluscak appreciates the need for the company to invest in projects.
“The future is important to all of us because these are the mines that we built,” Belucsak said. “And in order for them to succeed, we have to make these plans work.”
And while this will not affect the layoffs scheduled to start on Nov. 12, Beluscak says it may bring some jobs back in a few years.
Sibanye Stillwater had initially looked at cutting 566 union jobs but worked with the USW to save about 50 of those workers.
“We will be able to put them in these more flexible roles and really create full-time positions where those wouldn't have existed before,” McDowell said.
“Talk through their plans and just add folks back into the mix,” Beluscak said.
A year of major changes and while the new rules are something to celebrate, McDowell realizes it's a difficult time for miners and their families.
“What we hope is it will give people is hope,” McDowell said. “We really want to give people hope.”
“Every one of us has a dangerous job,” said Belucsak. “and it's hard to keep focused when you don't know what your future holds.”
