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Earlier this year the Michigan Strategic Fund approved a $50 million grant for a controversial copper mine in the Upper Peninsula. Now, the state House Appropriations Committee has given its support, too.
The Canadian company Highland Copper is planning to build the Copperwood Mine underground near Lake Superior, Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park and the North Country Trail in Gogebic County.
The state funds still have to be approved by the state Senate Appropriations Committee before they can be distributed to Highland Copper, and the company must raise an additional $150 million privately by December 2025 in order to receive the money.
The $50 million grant for the project would go towards infrastructure improvements necessary for the mine site, like transportation access, wastewater infrastructure, groundwater analyses and efforts to improve cellular and broadband internet access for the site itself and the surrounding rural area.
Copperwood’s anticipated lifespan is about 11 years, and the state House Fiscal Agency estimates the mine would generate over $120 million in tax revenue for the state.
But the project has been a flashpoint for worries about the risk mining would pose to the pristine natural environment of the Upper Peninsula, a region that still bears the scars of legacy mine waste; a petition on Change.org opposing the project garnered over 295,000 signatures as of Wednesday afternoon.
“This is a dangerous project to these places. We can’t ignore that,” said Nichole Keway Biber, a member of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, who has spoken out against the mine in the past and testified at Wednesday’s committee hearing. “There’s a lot of work to be done of restoration. We can invest in repair and clean up."
A major point of concern is the potential for mine waste to escape into Lake Superior, less than two miles away from the mine site.
But others see the mine as a lifeline for the region’s struggling rural economy, including Marty Fittante, CEO of InvestUP, an economic development organization based in Marquette.
"The Upper Peninsula is my home. It's where I was raised, where my grandchildren live," he said. "Unfortunately, for too many people, they can no longer call it home because we don't have opportunity."
Yet another motivation is the world’s growing demand for copper, a crucial metal for renewable energy infrastructure.
Copperwood has almost all the necessary permits and has finished early preparations for construction at the site. (Public comment recently closed on the state’s air quality permit.)
The grant funding will move to the state Senate Appropriations Committee for approval. Fittante has previously said that he expects that committee to follow the lead of its House counterpart.
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