Tag Archives: UPX

Landowners, Environmentalist Call for Common-Sense Mineral Lease Reforms

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MARQUETTE – Michigan landowners and environmental groups are calling for common-sense reforms of mineral leasing and severed mineral rights following a Public Meeting with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ Office of Minerals Management. Approximately 120 people attended the December 4th meeting, where growing frustrations were expressed over UPX Minerals’ requested lease of 2,500 acres of state-owned metallic minerals in Marquette County. The controversial UPX leases target “severed minerals” located underneath private surface lands — including private homes, camps and managed forest lands.

“We applaud Mark Sweatman, director of the DNR’s Office of Minerals Management, for responding directly to public questions, in a public forum. Unfortunately, that meeting raised more questions than it answered,” said Kathleen Heideman of the Mining Action Group. “Obviously, Michigan needs to change its management of state-owned metallic minerals. Landowners are getting trampled by the current system, and the widespread leasing of severed minerals threatens Michigan’s natural resources. It’s a Public Trust issue. The DNR’s primary duty is to ensure clean water and healthy ecosystems for all citizens, so environmental impacts need to be assessed before any decision can be made regarding the private, corporate use of public resources,” said Heideman.

UPX is seeking metallic minerals under lands that contain recreational trails, endangered species habitat, sensitive wetlands, and the remote Rocking Chair Lakes Natural Area, home to old-growth forest, two outstanding trout lakes, four Ecological Reference Areas, and one of Michigan’s tallest cliffs. Rocking Chair Lakes is a biological stronghold for “tree species that do not reliably recruit across the ecoregion” according to the DNR, and contains Michigan’s finest example of a “dry mesic northern forest.” The Rocking Chair Lakes provide some of the best habitat in the Great Lakes for “sensitive wildlife requiring large tracts of mature forest, mesic conifer or corridors between such areas.” Habitat fragmentation is a priority wildlife management issue, as the rugged preserve lies in the heart of Michigan’s moose range. The DNR’s own management plan lists mineral extraction as a “threat.”

“These are some of the most iconic landscapes found in the midwest. The Mulligan (Cliff) Wall and Mulligan Plains have no equal in local landscape awe, and cliffs near Echo Lake support peregrine propagation and habitat, just two significant examples of areas potentially affected by exploration and mining activity. Lease reclassification remains a subjective process, leading to possible development of lands and unacceptable habitat loss through fragmentation,” said Chauncey Moran, board chairman of the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve.

“Working with impacted landowners and other stakeholders, we’ve identified serious problems with Michigan’s management of minerals and severed mineral rights,” said Horst Schmidt, president of the Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition. “There is a growing consensus that legislative and process reforms are needed. We’re gathering feedback now, and look forward to pursuing mineral lease reforms in 2019.”

Among the ideas under consideration: that the State of Michigan should create a public database of mineral lease ownership; that all mineral rights ownership should be registered; that cumulative environmental impacts of mineral exploration should be assessed; that mineral owners should pay property tax; and that the DNR should offer surface landowners ‘first right of refusal’ – the option to purchase state-owned ‘severed minerals’ beneath their homes, camps and forests, prior to any lease consideration.

A fair and expedited path to reunify the severed estate would streamline the DNR’s management burdens, return stewardship control to private landowners, and better protect Michigan’s environment.

TAKE ACTION – SEVERED MINERAL RIGHTS
bit.ly/Reform-Mineral-Rights

“There is an overwhelming desire to give small landowners — 98 percent in our unscientific survey — a clear path to unified ownership of their land, both surface and underground,” said Jon Saari, a board member of the Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition. “We can smell, hear, see and know the surface intimately, while the underground is a vast untouchable mass of buried minerals, known only through echoes and wave-lengths and core samples. Small wonder that this historical boon to mining interests known as the ‘dominant estate’ is getting looked at anew, and old assumptions questioned.”

“Currently there is a lot of confusion over mineral rights, and we need transparency. The phrase that catches my attention (in the DNR’s recent Press Release, “Digging into Severed Mineral Rights”) is this: “Determining who owns the minerals beneath your property can be an arduous task, but assistance can be acquired through an attorney or title company… once an owner is established, a mineral appraisal is typically completed to determine its value.” It is not right that determining mineral rights under my property should be an arduous task, requiring assistance from an attorney or title company. Mineral rights under private property should be apparent and spelled out clearly at time of purchase, and Michigan state laws should be changed to facilitate that,” said Brian and Julie Hintsala, local residents impacted by the UPX lease requests.

“The Superior Watershed Partnership is currently updating the Dead River Watershed Management Plan, expanding it to include protection recommendations for the entire watershed. In order to protect our freshwater resources and quality of life, we recommend a prohibition on sulfide-based mining within the Dead River Watershed,” said Carl Lindquist, executive director of the Superior Watershed Partnership.

Chris Burnett, speaking on behalf of the Upper Peninsula Land Conservancy’s Vielmetti-Peters Conservation Reserve in Marquette, was informed during the meeting that UPX had “withdrawn” the land conservancy’s property from their lease request. No explanation was given. Burnett questioned how the DNR communicated with impacted landowners, and whether the lease review process considered the value of renewable natural resources, worth substantially more than leasing fees.

UPX Minerals is a wholly owned subsidiary of Highland Copper, based in Canada. In 2017, UPX acquired nearly 500,000 acres of mineral properties in Michigan’s Central Upper Peninsula – lands formerly owned by Rio Tinto/Kennecott. UPX is reviewing historic mineral exploration data and conducting “field exploration” in search of gold, magmatic nickel-copper and zinc-copper deposits. Their goal is to “define drilling targets” and create a “pipeline” of future mining projects.

Comments opposing the UPX mineral lease requests were jointly submitted to the DNR by the Mining Action Group, the Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition, Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve, Superior Watershed Partnership and Land Trust, Friends of the Land of Keweenaw (FOLK), Freshwater Future, Concerned Citizens of Big Bay, the Michigan Environmental Council, and the Michigan League of Conservation Voters.

Sweatman indicated the lease requests are still under review, and may be decided in early 2019. The public is urged to submit all questions pertaining to the UPX metallic mineral lease requests to the DNR’s Office of Minerals Management, P.O. Box 30452, Lansing MI 48909, or DNR-Minerals@michigan.gov

WHAT ARE PEOPLE SAYING?

“After listening to Director Sweatman discuss mineral rights and mineral leasing, I asked myself – what are you buying when you purchase real estate in Michigan? When the mineral rights are severed, it appears you have only the surface, maybe the air rights above it. And the right to pay property taxes! You’d be better off buying a magic carpet.”
– Horst Schmidt, president of the Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition

“We built our family home on Neejee Road in 1992 primarily because we loved the natural beauty of the wooded lands near the McClure Basin. Other people appreciate the scenic beauty of the region also, because the old steel bridge and the new high bridge on Co. Rd. 510 over the Dead River are two of the most photographed areas in Marquette County. Imagine having a mine in the background of your next bridge photo! It is shocking to consider…. I am a life-long Yooper and I do appreciate the historical and current importance of mining to our area. However, we are much more than mining now. Tourism, mountain biking and cross country skiing in this area would be devastated by possible mining operations. Is it worth forever changing our landscape and risking our environment including the nearby Dead River basin for a short term mining operation? Why would the State of Michigan consider allowing mineral rights to be leased for exploration so near a community, in an area that will impact recreation and tourism?”
– Brian and Julie Hintsala, impacted landowners

“It is in our best interest to protect our watersheds from wide-scale ecological disruption, and look instead toward a future that allows our local economies to thrive because of the natural beauty that attracts people to our area.”
– Maggie Scheffer, board member of the Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition

“Most of the threatened parcels are part of the Dead River watershed, which flows into Lake Superior just north of the city of Marquette. Contamination of this water would pose a great risk and expense. There are several dams along the river forming basins which have numerous waterfront developments. The value of these parcels would be seriously downgraded if the water is degraded. Property values would suffer, as would property taxes. Exploration is a messy business.”
– Kathy Peters, Marquette

“Rocking Chair Lakes are a hidden treasure in the valley of the Mulligan. The creek starts high up in wetlands near the McCormick Tract, tumbles down for miles through rugged hills onto an enclosed plain, and flows for five miles along the base of a 400-foot high rocky escarpment before emptying into the Dead River. While the beauty of Mulligan Creek was, and still is, apparent, the reality is that surrounding lands in the watershed are dominated by industrial forest owners…. PUBLIC LAND IS SCARCE: the State of Michigan owns 240 acres that encompass most of the Rocking Chair Lakes, a state wilderness area nestled high up within the escarpment itself. Road access is limited. This is no place for sulfide mining.”
– Jon Saari, board member of the Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition

“Last fall some of us hiked into Rocking Chair Lakes Ecological Reference Area. This place has it all: old-growth cedar stands and hardwood forest, lush, misty valleys of old-growth hemlock nestled between high rock outcrops, and picturesque, undeveloped lakes. It’s hard to think of a worse place for mineral exploration and potentially a mine.”
– Steve Garske, board member of the Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition

“Foreign mining companies see Michigan’s Upper Peninsula as a great place to operate: loosely regulated, full of metallic mineral deposits – a ‘you-pick’ orchard for sulfide mining companies. The State of Michigan, in its eagerness to permit resource exploration and extraction, risks turning the U.P. into a mining camp, and damaging our clean water and wild lands in the process.”
– Kathleen Heideman, Mining Action Group

“Recent scientific/medical research shows that increasing levels of mercury in the Lake Superior watershed are entering the human food chain by accumulating as poison in our game fish, creating a serious risk to human health, including irreversible brain damage in fetuses and children; and that the cause of this mercury poisoning is the toxic legacy of sulfide ore mining (silver, copper, gold, zinc). Our Michigan DNR now has the opportunity and responsibility as “Gatekeepers” acting as guardians of the public trust, to close the gate on further poisoning of our water and to protect our children and their children’s children by denying the sulfide mineral leases requested by UPX Minerals.”
– Dennis Ferraro, Marquette

“We are looking to our new governor to swiftly act in a manner that promotes our potential $6 billion annual renewable commercial fishery opportunity by restoring legacy mining pollution and casting aside this risky sulfide mining experiment.”
– Jeffery Loman, L’Anse Indian Reservation

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Mission of the Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition

Founded in 1976, the Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition’s purpose remains unchanged: to protect and maintain the unique environmental qualities of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan by educating the public and acting as a watchdog to industry and government. UPEC is a nonprofit, registered 501(c)(3) organization. For more information, call 906-201-1949, see UPenvironment.org, or contact: upec@upenvironment.org.

Mission of the UPEC Mining Action Group

The UPEC Mining Action Group (MAG), formerly known as Save the Wild U.P., is a grassroots effort to defend the clean water and wild places of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula from the dangers of sulfide mining. Contact the Mining Action Group at info@savethewildup.org or call 906-201-1949. Learn more about the Mining Action Group at miningactiongroup.org.

DNR to hold Public Meeting on UPX Mineral Lease Requests

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ALERT — At the request of concerned citizens and environmental groups. the Michigan Department of Natural Resources has agreed to hold a Public Meeting on December 4th to discuss controversial mineral leases requested by UPX Minerals, Inc. (UPX).

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ Office of Minerals Management will hold an informational public meeting next month in Marquette on a metallic minerals lease request by UPX Minerals Inc., a division of Highland Copper.

The meeting is set for 6-8 p.m. eastern time, Tuesday, Dec. 4 in the Charcoal Room at the University Center on the campus of Northern Michigan University in Marquette.

“We will give a brief overview of the metallic mineral lease request submitted by UPX Minerals, Inc.,” said Julie Manson, manager of the Lease Management Unit of the DNR’s Office of Minerals Management. “We will also be providing attendees with an opportunity to ask questions, and we will answer them as time allows.”

UPX Minerals Inc. initially submitted a lease request to the DNR for state-owned metallic mineral rights on 6,655.69 acres in Iron and Marquette counties. UPX has since withdrawn over 4,000 acres from its application and is now requesting to lease 2,500.80 acres of the originally requested acres.

All the acreage initially nominated for leasing in Iron County has been withdrawn from the request by UPX.

Should this request be approved by DNR, issuance of a lease to UPX would give them the exclusive right to explore for the presence of metallic minerals in these areas. A lease alone does not grant a lessee a right to mine.

The recommended lease classification is development with restriction, which means there are other specific restrictions in the lease in addition to the standard lease provisions. The lease would allow surface use for metallic minerals exploration or development after all necessary permissions have been obtained.

Concerned citizens, including impacted homeowners in the Marquette area who submitted public comments opposing the proposed leasing of minerals under their homes, camps, and forests, were NOT notified of the hearing – they learned about the decision only after the DNR issued a press release dated November 4th.

“The DNR’s failure to directly contact concerned landowners and other environmental stakeholders reflects poorly on the Minerals office,” said Kathleen Heideman of the UPEC Mining Action Group. “When folks take the time to educate themselves about a complex issue, write informed comments, and submit them in a timely manner to the State of Michigan, I really feel they should be treated with more respect.”

UPX is seeking to lease thousands of acres of State-owned minerals in Marquette County. These mineral properties are underneath private property, homes, camps, rivers and streams, lakes, wetlands – even nature reserves and the DNR’s own Rocking Chair Lakes, located 25 miles northwest of Marquette. The Rocking Chair Lakes are considered one of the “jewels of the state forest system… a natural area in a rugged and nearly inaccessible part of Marquette County. Managed for trout, these lakes offer a wilderness fishing experience.”

Comments opposing the UPX mineral lease requests were jointly submitted to the DNR by UPEC’s Mining Action Group, the Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition, the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve, the Superior Watershed Partnership and Land Trust, Friends of the Land of Keweenaw (FOLK), Freshwater Future, Concerned Citizens of Big Bay, the Michigan Environmental Council, and the Michigan League of Conservation Voters.

“We urge everyone to attend the DNR’s public meeting on December 4th. This is the public’s chance to ask questions and get answers,” said Horst Schmidt, president of the Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition (UPEC).

CONCERNED CITIZENS MEETING

Landowners who are impacted by the UPX mineral lease requests may contact miningactiongroupUPEC@gmail.com for additional information.

UPDATED MAPS

Are you impacted by UPX Mineral’s plans for mineral exploration in Marquette County? Check these detail maps showing the UPX mineral lease requests:

Download this file (PDF)

Download this file (PDF)

Download this file (PDF)

Download this file (PDF)

Download this file (PDF)

Download this file (PDF)

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Environmentalists to DNR: Protect the Rocking Chair Lakes!

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Major environmental groups have joined forces with the Mining Action Group of the Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition (UPEC), calling on the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to protect Rocking Chair Lakes Natural Area.

Comments opposing the UPX mineral lease requests were jointly submitted to the DNR by UPEC’s Mining Action Group, the Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition, the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve, the Superior Watershed Partnership and Land Trust, Friends of the Land of Keweenaw (FOLK), Freshwater Future, Concerned Citizens of Big Bay, the Michigan Environmental Council, and the Michigan League of Conservation Voters.

UPX Minerals, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canadian mining company Highland Copper, is seeking to lease more than 3,800 acres of State-owned minerals in Iron and Marquette Counties. Most of these mineral properties are in Marquette County, and many are underneath private property, homes, camps, rivers and streams, lakes, wetlands – even nature reserves and the DNR’s own Rocking Chair Lakes, located 25 miles northwest of Marquette.

The DNR’s Forestry Division calls the Rocking Chair Lakes one of the “jewels of the state forest system… a natural area in a rugged and nearly inaccessible part of Marquette County. Managed for trout, these lakes offer a wilderness fishing experience.” 

The Mining Action Group has released the following statement:

“The special qualities of Rocking Chair Lakes Natural Area demand that it be protected in its natural state. Mineral exploration is obviously not a compatible land use. Rocking Chair Lakes is listed on the Michigan DNR website under Natural Areas. If the DNR cannot deny a mineral lease request in this unique and highly significant area, then it seems it cannot deny a lease anywhere. In that case, what do we have a DNR for?

As a Natural Area, any form of mineral exploration is prohibited by Michigan law: “Natural Area status as provided under Public Act 451 of 1994 Part 351 WILDERNESS AND NATURAL AREAS: Sec. 35105. prohibits the following activities: (…) Exploration or extraction of minerals.”

We remind the DNR of their statutory prohibition regarding “Exploration or extraction of minerals” which must be applied in this case:  Any area which has been “proposed for dedication” is protected under the act, and must be managed as a natural/wild/wilderness area until the dedication is final.”

“These mineral lease requests appear to be oblivious to the community’s concerns. UPX doesn’t care about surface ownership, environmental management goals, the potential for environmental damage, legal or regulatory restrictions, or proximity to wetlands and water,” said Kathleen Heideman of the Mining Action Group. “To be clear, we believe that ANY mineral development activity in this remote, fragile place threatens the DNR’s stewardship of the Rocking Chair Lakes area.”

In their joint comments, Michigan environmental groups criticized the DNR’s overly-permissive lease classifications, requested on-the-ground reviews for lands of special environmental concern, and called on the DNR to hold a public meeting in the Upper Peninsula prior to making any final lease decision:

“The agency needs to meet with concerned landowners to discuss the UPX request, and answer questions directly, engaging and educating the public on the work of the minerals management division. The DNR appears to be rushing from nomination to public comment and then straight to ‘decision’ – bypassing the opportunity for a Public Meeting.”

Four different Ecological Reference Areas have been established in the Rocking Chair Lakes Natural Area, representing natural areas of “High Conservation Quality” including cliffs, wetlands, old growth forest, numerous threatened and endangered plants and one of Michigan’s largest inland cliffs, the Mulligan Cliffs.

Read their full comments, here.

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Action Alert – Petition the Michigan DNR to DENY Mineral Lease Requests by UPX

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Concerned? SIGN ON.

The Mining Action Group is working with concerned citizens who received letters notifying them that UPX has requested mineral rights underneath their private homes, camps and wild lands. The public comment period ends on June 11th, 2018. This petition will close at 2 PM Eastern on June 11th, and will be submitted to the Michigan DNR along with our public comments on the proposed leases. Please join us in asking state environmental regulators to PROTECT Michigan’s Natural Resources!

– – – – – – – TEXT OF SIGN ON PETITION – – – – – – – –

Canadian conglomerate Highland Copper’s wholly-owned subsidiary, UPX Minerals Inc., is targeting 3,800+ Acres in Marquette County and Iron County for sulfide ore exploration and mining by requesting mineral leases now owned by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

Because granting these mineral leases will:
(a) Pollute our air, quiet forests, ground water, and watersheds to
Lake Superior;
(b) Damage the use and enjoyment of surface rights on land of
many private homeowners;
(c) Damage the natural environment on our public land; and
(d) Damage the “Pure Michigan” ethic/image of a growing multimillion $$$$ recreation economy in the Upper Peninsula,

We, the undersigned, petition the Michigan DNR to DENY “UPX Mineral Inc.’s Request for Direct Mineral Leases.”

DNR: Deny UPX Mineral Inc.’s "Request for Direct Mineral Leases"

Thanks, the petition is now closed.

End date: Jun 11, 2018

Signatures collected: 237

237 signatures

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If you have additional concerns about the UPX mineral lease request, please send written comments providing additional information “relative to the request to lease the specified mineral rights” by June 11, 2018 to DNR, Office of Minerals Management, P.O. Box 30452, Lansing MI 48909, or DNR-Minerals@michigan.gov

Thank you for defending the wild U.P.!

Landowners Alarmed by UPX Mineral Lease Request

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MARQUETTE, MICHIGAN – Local property owners are expressing alarm over mineral lease requests made by UPX Minerals, a wholly owned subsidiary of Highland Copper. UPX is seeking to lease nearly 4,000 acres of State-owned minerals in Iron and Marquette Counties. Most of these mineral properties are in Marquette County, and many are underneath private property, homes, camps, rivers and streams, lakes, wetlands – even nature reserves.

“We opened our mail and found a notice from UPX Minerals requesting a direct metallic minerals lease from the Department of Natural Resources — under our own home. We were horrified! The owner of mineral rights can access your property, conduct exploration or drilling, or potentially develop a mine under your home or camp, and as the landowner you have very little control over that. Doesn’t that seem outrageous?” asked Sue Beckstrom Noel, a concerned local resident.

CONCERNED? SIGN THIS PETITION ASKING MICHIGAN DNR TO DENY THE UPX MINERAL LEASE REQUESTS!

More than 3,800 acres of the requested mineral leases would be located in Champion, Michigamme, Negaunee, Ishpeming and Marquette townships, and include sensitive and scenic areas. Some mineral lease requests could impact the Noquemanon Trail Network in the Forestville Trailhead area, Echo Lake Nature Preserve, Teal Lake, and the Vielmetti-Peters Conservation Reserve, owned by the Upper Peninsula Land Conservancy.

The UPX mineral lease request also targets the Rocking Chair Lakes – considered by the DNR to be one of Marquette County’s wild gems, and recently nominated to become “The Rocking Chair Lakes Ecological Reference Area.” This remote area of state land includes four different Ecological Reference Areas (ERA’s): Northern Shrub Thicket, Dry Mesic Northern Forest, Mesic Northern Forest, and Granite Cliff. The rugged terrain of the Mulligan Escarpment is also the heart of Michigan’s moose range.

In 2017, UPX Minerals acquired nearly 500,000 acres of mineral properties in the Central Upper Peninsula of Michigan – lands formerly owned by Rio Tinto and Kennecott. UPX is reviewing historic mineral exploration data, and conducting “field exploration” in search of orogenic gold, magmatic nickel-copper and zinc-copper deposits in the various properties. Their goal is to “define drilling targets” this year, creating a “pipeline” of future mining projects. Highland Copper is currently developing projects in Gogebic and Ontonagon counties, and in the Keweenaw Peninsula. They own the Copperwood Project, where they propose to mine adjacent to the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, and potentially underneath the park itself.

“We built our family home on Neejee Road in 1992 primarily because we loved the natural beauty of the wooded lands near the McClure Basin. Other people appreciate the scenic beauty of the region also, because the old steel bridge and the new high bridge on Co. Rd. 510 over the Dead River are two of the most photographed areas in Marquette County. Imagine having a mine in the background of your next bridge photo! It is shocking to consider. This would also impact the Noquemanon Ski Trail, the Hoist and McClure Basins, and the nearby Ore to Shore bike race,” said Julie Hintsala, a local landowner.

When asked why the company wanted to conduct mining exploration in residential areas, a UPX representative contacted by phone replied: “We’re just trying to tie areas together that we already have rights to.”

“I am a life-long Yooper and I do appreciate the historical and current importance of mining to our area. However, we are much more than mining now. Tourism, mountain biking and cross country skiing in this area would be devastated by possible mining operations. Is it worth forever changing our landscape and risking our environment including the nearby Dead River basin for a short term mining operation? Why would the State of Michigan consider allowing mineral rights to be leased for exploration so near a community in Negaunee township in an area that will impact recreation and tourism?” asked Hintsala.

“After many years living in Chicago and then nearby Indiana, my wife and relocated last year to the UP because we fell in love with the abundance here of clean air, fresh water bodies and unspoiled natural beauty of mountains and woods, and all the opportunity for outdoor recreation and enjoyment offered by this beautiful environment. However, we now face a grave threat to that environment because UPX, Inc., subsidiary of Canadian conglomerate, Highland Copper, has targeted Marquette County for exploration and potential development of sulfide ore mining, a form of extraction that may leave the air, streams and groundwater polluted with toxic by-products. To pursue their destructive plans, UPX has requested that our Michigan DNR grant it ‘direct mineral leases’ over areas which DNR now holds in trust for the benefit of all Michigan residents. We ask our fellow citizens to join us in urging DNR to reject this corporate poaching of our environment by submitting comments before the public comment period expires,” said Dennis and Kim Ferraro of Marquette.

“Granting the mineral lease rights allowing exploration could lead to a possible mishap such as what occurred in the Porcupine Mountains wilderness area. Degradation at that exploration site could have been prevented had there been proper oversight and inspection by the DNR and DEQ,” said Richard Sloat, a resident of Iron County.

Approximately 119 acres of the lease requests are located in the Crystal Falls Township of Iron County, adjacent to the East Branch of the Fence River, and underneath Wilson Creek and wetlands.

“Iron County communities and watersheds continue to feel the impacts of the iron ore mines that have been closed for more than 40 years. The parcels identified for mineral exploration, and potential mining in Iron County, are remote, water-rich sites. It is in our best interest to protect our watersheds from wide-scale ecological disruption, and look instead toward a future that allows our local economies to thrive because of the natural beauty that attracts people to our area,” said Maggie Scheffer, a board member of the Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition who resides in Iron County.

“If Highland Copper / UPX succeeds in taking even a fraction of these sulfide-mineral deposits from exploration to development, the risk to the Lake Superior watershed will be significantly heightened,” warned Louis Galdieri, a writer and filmmaker interested in the history and long-term prosperity of the Lake Superior basin.

After hearing from concerned citizens, the Mining Action Group, Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition, Superior Watershed Partnership and others requested an extension of the public comment period (originally set to expire in early May):

IMPORTANT UPDATE – DNR’s OFFICE OF MINERALS MANAGEMENT

“This is to notify you that we are extending the public comment period for this lease request to June 11, 2018 to allow members of the public additional time to review the request.”

The public is urged to submit written comments expressing their concerns and providing additional information “relative to the request to lease the specified mineral rights” by June 11, 2018 to DNR, Office of Minerals Management, P.O. Box 30452, Lansing MI 48909, or DNR-Minerals@michigan.gov

CONCERNED CITIZENS MEETING

The next meeting of landowners to discuss the UPX mineral lease requests will take place in Marquette on Thursday April 26th, from 5-7 pm. Contact miningactiongroupUPEC@gmail.com for location.

LEARN MORE

Michigan DNR: UPX Mineral Lease Request: Parcel List and Maps
https://www.michigan.gov/documents/dnr/UPX_Parcel_List_and_Maps_617392_7_619894_7.pdf

Michigan DNR: Rocking Chair Lakes
http://www.midnr.com/Publications/pdfs/ForestsLandWater/Cmpt_Reviews/Gwinn/2019/RockingChairLakes.pdf

Who’s Digging Under Your Camp? UPX Minerals….

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UPX Minerals Inc, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Highland Copper, a Canadian mining company, already owns half a million acres of mineral properties in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan: in 2017 they acquired all of the mineral properties previously held by Kennecott and Rio Tinto.

Now they want more –approximately 4,000 acres of minerals owned by the State of Michigan. Many of these minerals lie under private lands, where mineral ownership is severed from surface ownership:

UPX Minerals Inc., of Wakefield, Michigan, has requested direct metallic mineral leases from the State of Michigan covering Department of Natural Resources (DNR) metallic mineral rights located within T46N-R31W, Iron County; and  T48N-R26W, T48N-R27W, T48N-R29W, T48N-R30W, T49N-R26W, and T49N-R28W, Marquette County; containing a total of 3,964.78 acres, more or less.

Private landowners in Iron and Marquette Counties have received letters from the Michigan DNR notifying them that UPX Minerals wants to lease state-owned minerals located underneath their homes, camps, rivers, wetlands  – even nature preserves, and the DNR’s own ecological reference areas! Read this Letter to the Editor from a local landowner: http://www.miningjournal.net/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/2018/04/letters-to-the-editor-90/

After meeting with concerned citizens, the UPEC Mining Action Group requested an extension of the public comment period (originally set to expire on May 11th):

“On behalf of numerous concerned citizens, impacted landowners and stakeholder groups, I am requesting that the State of Michigan extend by at least 30 days the public comment period for this lease request, in order to allow impacted landowners and members of the public to further investigate this significant request, providing valuable resource information regarding the proposed leases, and ensuring informed comment.”

UPDATE: The DNR has granted the request for an extension. According to the DNR’s Office of Minerals Management: 

“This is to notify you that we are extending the public comment period for this lease request to June 11, 2018 to allow members of the public additional time to review the request.”

Our next meeting with impacted landowners to discuss the UPX mineral lease requests will take place in Marquette on Thursday April 26th, 5-7 pm. Contact the miningactiongroupUPEC@gmail.com for location and additional information.