Platinum and palladium miner Stillwater Mining Co. on Thursday said it expects to resume operations at its East Boulder Mine in Montana as early as Friday morning, if fire conditions remain stable.

The company suspended activity at the mine, located south of Big Timber, on Sunday after an evacuation order was issued for the area because of the Derby wildfire.

Just a day earlier, the mine had resumed operations after the fire forced a two-day hiatus. The fire posed no imminent threat to the mine itself, the company said, but smoke and shifting winds created hazardous conditions along access roads to the mine.

The company said a crew would insp