Stillwater is one of the world's leading producers of platinum group metals and the only significant primary producer of palladium in the Western Hemisphere. Properties covered here include the Stillwater and East Boulder Mines near Nye, Montana and the smelter and refinery complex at Columbus, Montana. The Stillwater Mine began underground mining in 1986. The East Boulder project, some 15 miles west of Stillwater, began commercial production in 2002.