Stillwater Mine has brought roughly 150 workers back onto its payroll over the past twelve months, a partial rebound following a wave of layoffs that eliminated 640 positions in the fall of 2024. The rehiring brings the mine’s total workforce to around 1,050 employees — still well below pre-layoff levels and far short of a full operational recovery.
Palladium Prices Drove Both the Collapse and the Comeback
The layoffs stemmed from a sharp drop in palladium values roughly two years ago that made significant portions of the operation economically unviable. As prices stabilized and returned closer to normal ranges, the company was able to resume hiring on a limited basis.
Mine owner Sibanye Stillwater pursued legal action last summer, filing a lawsuit in an international trade court alleging that Russian producers had flooded the global market and artificially depressed prices. The United States subsequently imposed tariffs on Russian palladium. However, the international court ruled in favor of the Russian producers just weeks ago, complicating the legal strategy and leaving the longer-term market outlook uncertain.
West Side Remains Idle
Despite the hiring gains, the western portion of the mine continues to sit in maintenance mode with no active extraction taking place. Officials do not expect that side of the operation to resume mining activity at any point during the coming year, meaning total output remains constrained even as the workforce has grown modestly.
Heather McDowell, speaking about the current state of operations, said the company believes it has found a workable footing. “We’re looking at a very sustainable model where we are right now,” she said.
Stillwater County Feels the Fiscal Strain
The economic ripple effects have reached county government directly. Stillwater Mine is the largest single employer in Stillwater County and, as recently as two years ago, accounted for approximately 30 percent of the county’s tax base. That outsized dependence on a single industry made the mine’s downturn particularly painful for local budgets.
County officials responded by trimming spending from roughly $22 million down to $20 million, a reduction that reflects the gap left by the mine’s reduced tax contributions. The cuts represent a meaningful tightening for a rural county government that has long relied on mining revenue to fund basic services.
Roger Webb, speaking to the mine’s broader role in the regional economy over the years, said the operation has been a major driver of local prosperity. “They’ve generated a lot of jobs, they’ve generated a lot of income, they’ve paid a ton of taxes,” he said.
A Cornerstone Industry at a Crossroads
Stillwater Mine has anchored the regional economy for decades, and its fortunes remain closely tied to global commodity markets that local officials have little power to influence. The international trade ruling against Sibanye Stillwater’s lawsuit removes one avenue the company had pursued to address what it characterized as unfair competition from Russian producers.
The 150 positions added over the past year represent meaningful progress for a workforce that lost nearly two-thirds of its members in a matter of months. But with the west side of the mine still offline and no timeline for its return, the recovery appears measured and deliberate rather than a swift return to prior capacity.
For Stillwater County, the situation underscores a vulnerability familiar to many rural Montana communities whose economic foundations rest heavily on a single employer or extractive industry. How quickly — and how fully — the mine rebounds will shape county finances and employment for years to come. The outcome of ongoing trade disputes and palladium market dynamics, both largely outside local control, will play a significant role in determining that trajectory.
