Schweitzer

BACKGROUND

I. Factual History2

In 1991, the Venture acquired six leaseholds (“the Mineral Leases”) of state-owned mineral estates in the vicinity of Lin-

ture. 2 Because the Montana Supreme Court recited the facts underlying this litigation in some detail in a published opinion, we provide only a brief summary of the events. See Seven Up Pete Venture v. State, 114 P.3d 1009 (Mont. 2005). 4162 SEVEN UP PETE VENTURE v. SCHWEITZER coln, Montana. The lands encompassed by the Mineral Leases comprise an area known as the “McDonald Project.” Accord- ing to feasibility studies, the McDonald Project contains more than 9 million ounces of gold and 20 million ounces of silver. Approximately half of these minerals could be recovered profitably through open-pit extraction combined with cyanide leaching of the ore. In addition to its interest in the McDonald Project, the Venture owns surface leases as well as other sur- face and mineral interests in two other areas also located east of Lincoln, Montana. These areas are designated as “Keep Cool Prospect” and “Seven Up Pete Project.” The remaining plaintiffs own surface or mineral interests in the general vicin- ity of Lincoln,…