Jogging down the stairs at Heathrow Airport to the underground train running to London, I carry in my overnight luggage a small container of wild rice, formal letters from the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, and a document signed by a hundred faith leaders. My twenty-eight-year-old traveling companion, a local organic farmer, writer and activist, carries in his duffle bag—along with a newly purchased bargain-basement suit—a bottle of homemade maple syrup and seven packets of background information on a controversial proposed sulfide mining project near our homes in Northern Michigan.
It’s April 2008 and we travel with support from a number of Michigan-based nonprofit groups, arriving in England a couple of days early f
or the annual general meeting of one of the world’s largest multinational mining corporations. For twenty years Rio Tinto has been listed as a top choice for investors on the London Stock Exchange. The company also has been documented as being responsible for some of the worst environmental and human rights violations that exist in the modern mining industry. We’re here because they’ll soon be coming, dependent on final government permits, to our neighborhood.
Author Archives: Save the Wild UP
The Most Important News Story of the Day/Millennium
Published on Monday, December 5, 2011 by CommonDreams.org
The Most Important News Story of the Day/Millennium
The most important piece of news yesterday, this week, this month, and this year was a new set of statistics released yesterday by the Global Carbon Project. It showed that carbon emissions from our planet had increased 5.9 percent between 2009 and 2010. In fact, it was arguably among the most important pieces of data in the last, oh, three centuries, since according to the New York Times it represented “almost certainly the largest absolute jump in any year since the Industrial Revolution.”
What it means, in climate terms, is that we’ve all but lost the battle to reduce the damage from global warming. The planet has already warmed about a degree Celsius; it’s clearly going to go well past two degrees. It means, in political terms, that the fossil fuel industry has delayed effective action for the 12 years since the Kyoto treaty was signed. It means, in diplomatic terms, that the endless talks underway in Durban should be more important than ever–they should be the focus of a planetary population desperate to figure out how
it’s going to survive the century.
350.org
Detroit Free Press 2-part article on U.P Mining
U.P. mines seeing a resurgence as companies hope to cash in
1:54 AM, Nov. 27, 2011 |http://www.freep.com/article/20111127/NEWS05/111270455/U-P-mines-seeing-resurgence-companies-hope-cash-in
Ruins of the old Quincy Mine in the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan, Saturday, Nov. 12, 2011. The Quincy Mining Company was established in 1848, and the city of Hancock developed adter the arrival of the miners. Copper mining operations stopped in 1945.
It’s estimated the Eagle Mine in the U.P. will start extracting nickel and copper in 2013.
Environmental groups are concerned about the effect mining could have on the Upper Peninsula’s abundant nature. They say the state has too few resources to be a proper watchdog. Still, struggling towns view the mines as an answer to their prayers, bringing in much-needed jobs and tax revenue.
Modern uses for some of the metals to be mined in the U.P.
Nickel: Added to stainless steel to prevent corrosion, so it’s found in stainless steel kitchen appliances and pots and pans. Also found in surgical stainless steel, which is easily sterilized, used for medical instruments, some bone implants and body piercing. Used in coins, electronics, rechargeable batteries for laptops and cell phones, and some hybrid car batteries.
Copper: Used in wiring and plumbing. Essential component of the motors, wiring, radiators, connectors, brakes and bearings in cars and trucks. Added to brass to make doorknobs germ-resistant. Coating for U.S. pennies.
Gold: Eighty percent is used in jewelry. Also used as bullion and coins, and in small amounts in computers, cell phones, calculators, GPS devices and televisions.
Silver: Used in jewelry, silverware, photography and coins. Silver ions are used in water purification because they retard the growth of bacteria and algae.
NEW MINES FOR THE UPPER PENINSULA:
Mine: EAGLE
Location: south of Big Bay, central UP
Owner: Rio Tinto and its wholly owned subsidiary, Kennecott Eagle Minerals
Permit: Applied 2006, granted 2007, mine permits have survived two legal challenges
Metals: Nickel, copper
Jobs: 220, including mill
Operation: Mine is under construction, expected to open 2014
Other: Company plans to reopen abandoned Humboldt Mill about 30 miles away to process ore
Mine: COPPERWOOD
Location: north of Wakefield, far western UP
Owner: Orvana Minerals Corp.
Permit: Applied Sept. 2011, company expects permit spring 2012
Metals: Copper, silver
Jobs: 250
Other: Ore is in rock with less sulfide than the other two mines, making it less risky for sulfuric acid drainage
Mine: BACK FORTY
Location: west of Stephenson, southern UP
Owners: 51% HudBay Minerals, 49% Aquila Resources
Permit: Expect to apply June 2012
Metals: Gold, silver, zinc, copper
Jobs: 230
Other: Open pit mine, next to Menominee River
The entrance to the Eagle Mine in Michigamme Township goes under Eagle Rock, rather than through it. Environmental groups and some residents of the towns near new mines are worried about noise, truck traffic, new roads, new power lines and contaminated air and water. / November photos by SUSAN TUSA/Detroit Free Press
Mine president Adam Burley said because Eagle — the nation’s first primary nickel mine — is the first new mine in the U.P. in decades, he wants to make it a model for others. “We’re raising the bar,” he said.
Kristi Mills, director of Save the Wild UP, with son Thomas Kinjorski, said the Department of Environmental Quality’s staff and budget have been gutted. The group is concerned about contamination.
First of 2 parts | Part 2
BIG BAY — In Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, it’s drill, baby, drill.
The drilling that began there in September is not for oil, but for gold, silver, copper and nickel.
In a resurgence of mining in the region whose mineral heyday was more than a century ago, foreign companies are finding rich bodies of ore they hope to mine for billions of dollars.
New technology and higher prices for metals are making mining profitable again, spurred by increases in demand for high-tech gadgets such as smartphones, kitchens full of stainless steel appliances and hybrid cars — all of which use the metals that can be found in the U.P.
Three new mines are either under way or planned, with more possible. Also, an abandoned mill to process ore is expected to reopen. Mineral rights on more than 1 million of the U.P.’s 7 million acres have been leased by companies prospecting for metals.
The new mines are less than a football field away from streams, rivers or Lake Superior, and environmental groups say the risks of contamination from acidic rock waste are high and that the state has too few resources to be a proper watchdog.
“I’m not anti-mine, I’m anti-mining pollution,” said Marla Tuinstra, a writer and retired dairy farmer near Stephenson, where an open pit gold mine is planned.
For struggling towns hungry for tax revenue and jobs, the mines are an answer to their prayers.
John Cox is supervisor of Wakefield Township, where a new copper mine is planned not far from the White Pine Mine, which closed 15 years ago.
“This is the best news we’ve had for years,” he said.
Rush is on as mining firms scour U.P. for deposits
Coming Monday: Is the state making enough money from these mines?
BIG BAY — The scream of hydraulic drills against bare rock echoes through the underground tunnel in the Eagle Mine. Dark figures are silhouetted against daylight at the tunnel’s entrance.
For international mining giant Rio Tinto, that light is symbolic: It’s the end of a 10-year push to start the mine — the nation’s first primary nickel mine and the first new mine in the Upper Peninsula in decades.
With its tunnel growing deeper at the rate of 12 feet per day, a Lansing judge on Wednesday cleared the mine’s path completely, dismissing a lawsuit that challenged its permits.
Other mining firms see Eagle’s start as a signal to push forward. Orvana Minerals, based in Toronto, has submitted a permit application for Copperwood, an underground copper mine near Wakefield in the U.P. And a third firm is preparing its application for Back Forty, an open pit gold, zinc and copper mine near Stephenson.
The rush is on.
Search for minerals
Websites of companies exploring for minerals show maps of the U.P. dotted with drilling targets. “Great Lakes: unparalleled potential,” says the map from Aquila Resources, a company listed on the Toronto stock exchange that discovered gold and copper in Menominee County. Its map shows four other sites it is targeting in the U.P.
Kennecott Eagle Minerals, the Rio Tinto subsidiary that discovered the rich copper-nickel deposit near Big Bay in 2002, said it’s continuing intensive exploration in the central and western U.P. Prime Meridian Resources of Calgary, Alberta, is hunting for copper, gold and nickel.
Bitterroot Resources of Vancouver, British Columbia, says it has mineral rights across 363 square miles in the U.P. and is scouting copper, nickel and platinum. Other firms have told the state they’re seeking uranium.
It’s not just Michigan: Companies also are planning mines in Ontario, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
“It’s like looking for elephants,” said Ted Bornhorst, professor of economic and engineering geology at Michigan Technological University in Houghton. “If you see one, you may find more.”
The state, excited about the prospect of new mining in the U.P., has set up an interdepartmental team to deal with issues surrounding mines.
“We see this as major economic development needed in the U.P.,” said Dan Wyant, director of the Department of Environmental Quality.
He said the state expects to see more than the three mines already proposed.
“The governor is very open to this, as long as we can make sure the companies meet requirements for air and water quality,” Wyant said.
He noted that new technology has changed mining. “It’s a different day and a different time,” he said.
All three companies said they will have modern water treatment plants that will make water discharged from the mining process cleaner than rain, which has contaminants deposited from air pollution. State law requires the new mine sites to be restored, with the buildings gone, pits and tunnels filled and flooded, and trees and shrubs planted when the mine shuts down.
Environmental concerns
Environmental groups and some residents of the towns near the new mines are worried about noise, truck traffic, new roads, new power lines and contaminated air and water. The new mines are in sulfide rock; its tailings contain sulfur that can create sulfuric acid when exposed to air and moisture. Critics say the state has suffered such deep budget cuts that it doesn’t have the funds or staff to do a good job protecting the environment. They also say the DEQ has become a booster rather than a watchdog over mines.
The Eagle Mine will be beneath the Salmon Trout River, which flows into Lake Superior; Back Forty is a few hundred feet from the Menominee River, and the Copperwood Mine is 200 feet from Lake Superior. Hunting, fishing, canoeing and hiking are popular in all three areas, and groups such as Save the Wild UP are concerned they’ll be contaminated by mine drainage.
The DEQ’s staff and budget have been gutted in recent years, said Kristi Mills, director of Save the Wild UP. The DEQ has only two staff members in the U.P. to oversee two existing iron mines, the three future mines and exploratory drilling.
Former director Steve Chester told the Free Press in 2010 that the agency’s general fund budget was cut 75% between 2003 and 2010.
Wyant said some staff in Lansing also work on mine issues, and that its resources are sufficient.
But Michelle Halley, an attorney for the National Wildlife Federation, which has challenged the Eagle permits in court, said the new mines, both in Michigan and elsewhere, will affect water quality in the Great Lakes Basin, not just the U.P.
She also said Michigan’s mining law places no restrictions on where mining can occur. “Every square inch is open.”
Bringing in the jobs
Mills of Save the Wild UP said the issue right now is jobs.
“It’s bad timing,” she said.
Not only does Rio Tinto intend to hire 300 people at Eagle, it also plans to reopen a mill to process its rock, and possibly that of other future mines. The Humboldt Mill hasn’t operated since 1989 and it, too, will bring jobs.
Dan Hornbogen is one of eight generations that lives, or have lived, in Marquette. He has served on an advisory committee to the company and is among the mine’s avid supporters.
“There are no guarantees, but these people know what they’re doing,” he said.
Jon Saari of the Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition doubts the mine can avoid polluting air and water.
“There is human hubris here,” he said.
A coalition of environmental groups and the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community had argued in court documents that a long list of problems with the Eagle Mine should have led the state to reject its permits, including a potentially unstable roof and environmental studies that were flawed or not done. The judge in the case disagreed and dismissed their lawsuit.
On a tour of the mine site, Kristin Mariuzza, environmental manager of the mine, points out the multiple water treatment systems proudly. A former DEQ employee and U.P. native, she said the $10-million system will make water from the mine site cleaner than what most people drink.
“We treat it more,” she said. The water must be clean enough to protect fish in nearby streams under state law.
Mine president Adam Burley said because Eagle is the first new mine in the U.P. in decades, he wants to make it a model for others. “We’re raising the bar,” he said.
A crown jewel?
HudBay Minerals of Toronto and partner Aquila Resources call their planned Back Forty Mine a “crown jewel,” with nearly 1 million ounces of gold and 1 billion pounds of copper, as well as other metals.
To Ron and Carol Henriksen, it’s no jewel. The couple created their retirement dream home on 6 acres along the shores of the Menominee River west of Stephenson. But after mining rigs began drilling exploratory holes down the road, they decided to sell to the mining company and have yet to find a new home.
Their property and many of those around it are marked with red anti-mine signs, and the Henriksens are active in Front 40, a group formed to encourage locals to ask tough questions about the Back Forty mine.
“If people understand the facts, they won’t be for it,” Ron Henriksen said.
The 250 jobs generated by the mine will last only nine years — the mine’s expected life — but the effects on hunting, fishing and recreational tourism could be long-lasting, Henriksen said.
“I don’t want my grandchildren saying to me, ‘Why did you let this happen?’ ” he said.
Some fear the mine will drive down property values. And the mine’s owners are Canadian companies, so even if 75% of jobs go to locals as promised, the profits will go back to Canada.
Cyanide will be used in the processing of the mine rock, and the Front 40 said it fears that could contaminate the Menominee River and create hazards when it’s transported to the site.
Mine spokesman Tom Shields said the cyanide will be used only in processing gold and silver and will be neutralized afterward.
Area residents have mixed opinions.
Jeff Anderson is a financial adviser and stock broker who has sold thousands of shares in HudBay. He sees it as a good investment, both for individuals and for the community, where he has lived for decades and is on the Downtown Development Authority board.
“What we have is an opportunity for higher economic development and better-paying jobs,” he said. Besides direct jobs, the mine is expected to create 220 support jobs, he said. “Higher wages and jobs could have a good impact,” he said.
He said he’s convinced, after a recent forum, that the DEQ will do a good job overseeing environmental risks.
Mick Lawler is project manager for HudBay. He said he’s confident the company can avoid the pollution opponents fear. The firm plans to build a concrete pillar between the mine and the river, treat water that is used in the mining process or falls on the site, and neutralize and bury rock waste in the mine pit, flooding it with water when the mine shuts down.
The company hopes to apply for a permit next June.
“I don’t know who to believe,” said Robin Leaveck, who works at her parents’ Stephenson Family Restaurant and grew up in the area. On one hand, the metals are needed for cars, electronic gadgets and wiring. On the other, “this is God’s country,” she said. “I hope they can do it without destroying it.”
‘Now we struggle’
Even with a rebirth in mining, the U.P. won’t see thousands of mining jobs from these projects. The numbers will be in the low hundreds at each mine, and the mines will be short-lived, open for at most a dozen years.
But the boost to small, hard-hit local economies will be impressive.
Wakefield Township Supervisor John Cox grew up in the area but left as a young man to get a good job and returned as a retiree.
“A lot of kids here have to leave like I did,” he said.
The proposed Copperwood Mine, which expects to get a state permit by next spring, will bring up to 250 jobs when it opens. “We’ve had unemployment over 10% for a long, long time,” and it’s even higher in neighboring Ontonagon, he said.
In the iron mining days, the area had swimming pools, community centers, good paved roads and other things small communities often don’t have. But those days ended when the White Pine Mine closed in 1995.
“Now we struggle,” he said.
Bornhorst, the Michigan Tech professor, said that because the U.S. is capable of protecting its environment, it should have mines that produce metals its citizens use, rather than sticking other countries with the risks.
“People don’t want copper mines in their backyard, but they’ll go down to Lowe’s to buy copper wire,” he said. “We’re the ones that use these metals the most. We should have the mines.”
Contact Tina Lam: 313-222-6421 or tlam@freepress.com
Part 2: Will mines get state’s riches for a paltry sum? by staff writer Tina Lam http://www.freep.com/article/20111128/NEWS05/111280328/Will-mines-get-state-s-riches-paltry-sum-?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE
Clean Water Petition
Four bills introduced to the Michigan House on Nov. 3, 2011 (House Bills 5149-5151 and 4736) must be passed to protect the largest source of above-ground freshwater in the world, the Great Lakes and their feeder water system inside the State of Michigan, from use by hydraulic fracturing companies seeking to drill for natural gas in Michigan shale. A moratorium must delay drilling until impact studies are completed by the EPA and Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources and Department of Environmental Quality. Sign here: http://signon.org/sign/we-must-save-our-drinking?source=s.em.cp&r_by=727783&mid=52
Kennecott Eagle Minerals Announces Aerial Survey Program
Kennecott Eagle Minerals Announces Aerial Survey Program
ISHPEMING, Mich., November 9, 2011 — Today, Kennecott Eagle Minerals announced a series of geophysical surveys to commence over Western and Central Upper Michigan.
The survey program is expected to start late November and continue for approximately three months. These surveys are part of the continuing exploration commitment by Kennecott in the Upper Peninsula.
The surveys will be completed using helicopters with geophysical equipment tethered behind the aircraft. The altitude of the helicopters will be low-level and will comply with Federal Transit Administration guidelines.
Residents will notice the helicopters flying over several U.P. counties. There are no materials being released into the environment.
Kennecott welcomes your questions and comments at kennecotteagleminerals.com/contact or by calling our Community Hotline at (906) 486-6970.
Media Contact:
Daniel Blondeau, Advisor – Communications and Media Relations
906. 468.1257 x 259 (O); 906.204.9985 (M); daniel.blondeau@riotinto.com
Wisconsin: Upper Peninsula pits offer perspective on Wisconsin mine proposal
Ishpeming, Mich. – The Empire Mine is big and deep, spanning a mile across and plunging 1,200 feet to its lowest point.
Trucks that carry rock from the depths of the iron ore mine are the size of two-story houses and burn 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel a day.
The electric bill from this massive mining complex in the Upper Peninsula is bigger than Continue reading
Lawsuit Revived Against Mining Giant Rio Tinto for War Crimes in Papua New Guinea
A U.S. federal appeals court has revived a lawsuit accusing mining giant Rio Tinto of committing genocide and war crimes in Papua New Guinea, where it once ran one of the world’s largest copper and gold mines. In their lawsuit, current and former residents of the island of Bougainville claimed that Rio Tinto decimated the island and forced native workers to live in “slave like” conditions.
READ MORE: http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=11270&l=1
Mining boom roils Upper Peninsula
SPLIT DECISION: Dueling signs at the entrance to Shakey Lakes Park in Menominee County reflect the differing views sparked by a resurgence of mining interest and activity in the Upper Peninsula. (Bridge photo/Jeff Alexander)
Mining boom roils Upper Peninsula
03 November 2011
By Jeff Alexander/Bridge Magazine contributor
Ron and Carol Henriksen retired to the kind of place most people can only imagine — a riverfront house in an area of the Western Upper Peninsula that is so serene, the dominant sound is often the whisk of trees rustling in the wind.
After living in suburband Chicago for three decades, in the path of jets coming and going from O’Hare Airport, the Henriksens coveted peace and quiet.
“Our dream was to retire on our six acres of land along the Menominee River,” Ron Henriksen said. “I was going to fish, maybe raise some chickens; we were going to live happily ever after.”
Instead, they found themselves drawn into a raging debate over what could become a 21st century mining boom in the Upper Peninsula. Continue reading
Souper Supper
WAVE (Water Action Vital Earth) will host a “Souper Supper” Harvest Fest on Saturday, November 19th, at the Messiah Lutheran Church in Marquette (corner of Magnetic and Fourth St.) from 6:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Freshly made soups such as Nutmeg Squash, Pear and Parsnip and Chicken Noodle highlight the menu along with delicious homemade breads and pies. Pies of all kinds will be available by the slice or whole pie to take home and enjoy or to freeze for the holiday.
Live music will be provided by Continue reading
Mines begin digging into U.P. free of key state tax
Mines begin digging into U.P. free of key state tax
01 November 2011
SEVERED FROM TAX: The Kennecott Eagle Mine near Marquette could generate as much $5 billion in nickel and copper — resources that would not fall under Michigan’s current severance tax for natural resources. (Courtesy photo)
In September, after years of heated debate and legal battles, Kennecott Eagle Minerals began blasting into the ground at its controversial nickel mine near Marquette.
The company, a subsidiary of London-based mining giant Rio Tinto, believes the Eagle mine will yield 300 million pounds of nickel and 250 million pounds of copper. Kennecott is one of several foreign firms pursuing what are believed to be large deposits of nickel, gold and other valuable metals found in bedrock underlying the western Upper Peninsula.
Those deposits could be worth billions of dollars, but the companies that extract them from the ground won’t pay a penny in severance taxes. By comparison, if Michigan treated the Kennecott mine the way Florida would, the state’s take could reach an additional $400 million.