The Yellowstone mining project proposed by the New World Mine about 20 years ago has been well and truly squashed by the Trust for Public Land. Alex Diekmann, a project manager for TPL confirmed that the group had finally purchased the last 772 acres of mining claims from private owners. 
The New World Mining District is now permanently off-limits to mining to prevent future threats to Yellowstone National Park. Image Credit: GREATER YELLOWSTONE COALITION (www.greateryellowstone.org)
The conservation group said that a total of $8 million will be used from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund. The move was applauded by Democratic U.S. Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester, who have advocated for the federal funding of the preservation effort.
Crown Butte Mines first proposed the mine in 1990 but dropped the plan in 1996 as part of a federal settlement. Since then the Trust for Public Land has been working on preservation of the Yellowstone park.
Greater Yellowstone Coalition Executive Director Mike Clark applauded the efforts of the hundreds of people involved in the project for over two decades who made this possible. The New World Mine proposal is now well and truly over.