Status | Active - Kennecott/Rio Tinto completed drilling to the ore body in spring, 2013. The operation was sold to Toronto-based Lundin Mining. Lundin started production in September, 2014. The mine is processing approximately 2000 Mt of ore per day.

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Location | The Yellow Dog Plains, near Marquette, MI

                 Processing Plant -- Humboldt Mill, Champion, MI

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Type of Mine | underground – copper, nickel with gold, cobalt, palladium and platinum

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Estimated Mine Life | 8 years

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Anticipated Output |  295 million pounds copper/8 years, 360 million pounds nickel/8 years

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Concerns |

• The minerals lie within a sulfide ore body. When brought to the surface and exposed to air and water this waste rock could cause acid mine drainage.

• The ore body lies directly below the Salmon Trout River, which flows into Lake Superior. There are concerns that the design of the mine will lead to a collapse that would injure workers and send the river through the sulfide ore body, thereby polluting the waters.

• The leaching of heavy metals such as mercury, arsenic, lead, and manganese can contaminate the water and fish population. Ingesting contaminated water and fish can lead to birth defects and neurological damage in children.

• Many are concerned that Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality does not have the funding to adequately enforce the laws that regulate metallic sulfide mining in the state.

• The portal to the mine has been bored directly below Eagle Rock, an Anishinaabe sacred place. Mining operations surround the site. While Eagle Rock is not closed to the Native American community, access to it is strictly regulated making it difficult for the regional indigenous community to exercise their traditional religious practices.

 

Projected Jobs Created |  300

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Company Website | www.eaglemine.com

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State Agency Website | MDEQ--The Eagle Mine, MDEQ--Humboldt Mill

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Additional Information | The Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve and the National Wildlife Federation are actively monitoring this project.

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Video | Sacred Places: Eagle Rock | Jessica Koski tells

the story of Eagle Rock, an Annishinaabe sacred place

in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula that’s now surrounded by

a copper mine.

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Photo Credit | Jeremiah Eagle Eye