By The Associated Press/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Jan. 24, 2012 7:00 a.m.

Madison – The Assembly jobs committee is set to approve a Republican bill that would streamline Wisconsin’s iron mining permit process.

The committee is set to vote Tuesday. Approval would clear the way for a full vote in the Assembly. The measure already is on the full Assembly’s Thursday calendar.

The bill is designed to help a company called Gogebic Taconite open an iron mine in the Penokee Hills just south of Lake Superior. The company insists the mine will create hundreds of jobs. Conservationists worry the mine would pollute one of the most pristine regions in the state.

Gogebic Taconite has put its plans on hold, however, until legislators can assure them of a clear end point in the state’s complex mine permitting process.