The first big twist in modern Idaho history came in 1861 when the fortune-seeker Elias Pierce snuck into the Clearwater country and located a rich supply of gold. A town named for that trespasser soon emerged, though it later deflated when the mining did.
That’s a contrast to the history of Salmon, on the far southeast side of what’s now Idaho’s largest wilderness area. But Salmon could turn into something bigger.
Salmon, once a fur trapper gathering spot and for most of its history a modest and remote ranching and timber community, has been for more than a century stable and barely changing, as far away from the go-go Idaho metros in development as it has been in mileage. Its population is around 3,200, and never has it been much more than that - or, since the very early 20th century, much less.
But there is the prospect of a big change around the corner.
People in Salmon might accurately point out that Boise began as a mining supply town, and - in part anyway - so did Salmon. About 40 miles to its west, over mountains and rugged roads, sits the small community of Cobalt (Salmon is much the closest town), which long ago produced its namesake element. The book Idaho for the Curious by Cort Conley recounts,“The Blackbird mine, five miles west of Cobalt, produced cobalt concentrate in 1917, closed in 1922, and reopened from 1922 until 1960, while the U.S. stockpiled the metal.â€
Economic prospects for the area based partly on that were strong enough that in 1909 the Northern Pacific Railway built a line from the east in Armstead, Montana, over the Lemhi Pass west to Salmon, called the Gilmore and Pittsburgh Railroad, intended largely to serve an expected growing mining effort. That development never happened, and the line shut down in 1939.
But, after all this time, conditions may have changed.
Mining depends not only on the existence of precious natural materials and the ability to access them, but also a value for those materials high enough to generate a profit. When it comes to cobalt, that time seems to have arrived.
Cobalt, a by-product from nickel and copper ore mining, has been used in a number of products over the years. The big new development looks to involve electric vehicles, whose batteries are reliant on cobalt, the market for which seems on the verge of exploding. Cobalt is produced in The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Russia, China and only a few other places - not the kind of reliable supply chain that makes electric vehicle manufacturers comfortable. Cobalt (and Salmon), Idaho, is the only primary cobalt mining location in the United States.
One industry analysis said “Cobalt Market is projected to witness robust growth at an astounding CAGR of over 8% to reach a market value of around USD 13.6 billion by the end of 2027.â€
That’s the demand Jervois Global Limited was doubtless considering when a few years ago it made its moves into starting a large-scale cobalt operation in the Salmon area, and last month opened the first new cobalt mine anywhere, in Idaho near Salmon. The company’s CEO remarked, “Idaho’s is the only cobalt mine in the United States, and it’s going to remain so. So we viewed it as a strategically important asset for the country.â€
There’s more, maybe. No refinery capable of turning cobalt into a usable material exists at all in the United States. (The cobalt pulled out of the Idaho mine would be processed in Brazil.) Suppose one were built at Salmon?
Salmon today is a remote place with limited services for anyone outside of visitors enjoying recreational opportunities (which are abundant in the area), but really big international corporate investment could mean massive investment in technology, transportation development (maybe large-scale airport development), residential and commercial development and much more. Salmon today is hours of driving from the nearest regional hub; it could, prospectively, become a cutting-edge regional hub. It could be transformed.
Mining could throw a major curve into the history of Idaho once again.