HELENA, Mont. — Butte’s Berkeley Pit is infamously known for its toxicity, but it’s also the site of vital minerals and rare earth elements.

The Berkeley Pit in Butte, Montana, has been a source of environmental concern for decades, as its waters—highly acidic and teeming with toxins—have seeped into the surrounding area. But today ...

The area surrounding the Berkeley Pit — a man-made lake of toxic water in Butte that would likely kill a human or animal that drank from it — is teeming with life.

Montana Tech sampled Berkeley Pit water successfully for the first time last week from its remote control boat, shown in this photo taken July 19. Tech professor Bryce Hill said ...

BUTTE, Mont. — The Berkeley Pit is as infamous as it is deep, a sobering reminder of the perils of Butte’s rich mining history. But now, it could become a vital repository for the ongoing ...

The Berkeley Pit, however, has a much richer concentration of rare earths in solution and a higher volume of water and is expected to produce 40 tons a year. Dr. Ziemkiewicz believes this process ...