The Boise mining company planning to open a gold mine in eastern Valley County has been accused of violating federal securities laws.
A lawsuit filed on March 21 in U.S. District Court says the company deliberately misled investors on costs to develop the Stibnite Gold Project, which is about 40 air miles east of McCall.
“(The) defendants made materially false and misleading statements and engaged in a scheme to deceive the market and a course of conduct that artificially inflated the price of Perpetua’s common stock,” according to the complaint.
The complaint names Perpetua CEO Jon Cherry and Chief Financial Officer Jessica Largent as defendants, in addition to the company itself.
The lawsuit asks a judge to award unspecified damages to investors who bought Perpetua stock between April 17, 2024, and Feb. 13, 2025.
“The true value of Perpetua’s common stock was substantially lower than the prices paid by plaintiff and the other members of the class,” the complaint said.
Francisco Barnes is the only plaintiff named in the class action lawsuit, though the complaint estimates there are “hundreds or thousands” more plaintiffs.
Perpetua responds
Marty Boughton, a Perpetua spokesperson, said the company is aware of the class action suit and “intends to vigorously defend itself in this matter.”
The suit was filed by Jaren Wieland of Mooney Wieland Warren, a downtown Boise law firm, and Adam Apton of Levi & Korsinsky, a New York City law firm.
Levi Korsinsky was among many law firms across the nation that announced investigations into Perpetua following a Feb. 13 filing that revealed significant cost increases for the project.
75% cost increase
Overall, the cost to develop the mine increased from $1.3 billion, as estimated in the company’s 2020 feasibility study, to more than $2.2 billion in the financial update released in February—or by about 75%.
Perpetua’s stock fell 22% on Feb. 14 following the release of the updated financial information.
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The lawsuit says Perpetua minimized the cost increases in press releases and on shareholder calls dating to last April.
“Perpetua’s suggestion of a mere 10% to 20% increase in cost fell well short of reality,” the complaint said. “The true impact of inflation, increased costs, and, most importantly, decisions management made resulted in a drastic increase in the initial capital expenditure required for the Stibnite Gold Project.”
Stibnite proposal background
Perpetua plans to extract more than $6 billion in gold, silver, and antimony from Stibnite, the site of historic mining operations during World War II and as far back as 1899.
The mine could produce an estimated 106 million pounds of antimony and 4.2 million ounces of gold, which would account for 94% of the mine’s estimated revenue.
The metals would be extracted from three open pit mines totaling about 473 acres within the 1,740-acre project zone, which is about three miles from the Frank Church – River of No Return Wilderness.
Perpetua’s mining plan was approved in January by the Payette National Forest, the lead permitting agency for the project, following a review of the project that began in 2016.
In February, that approval was challenged in a lawsuit filed against the Forest Service by conservation groups who say the approval does not comply with federal environmental law.
Perpetua currently hopes to start this summer on construction, which is expected to take two to three years. Mining operations would last an estimated 15 years.
