My position
Gogebic and Ontonagon Counties overwhelmingly support the mine. As their representative, I support the mine.
Michigan should not have released the $50 million. That was a mistake because we lose leverage on negotiating a strong deal for demanding investments in our local communities and protecting the environment.
We shouldn’t be cheering on this kind of risk to our environment. We should be critical and cautious.
I am an advocate for the people that overwhelmingly support this mine. I am NOT an advocate for the corporations.
Clean water is non-negotiable and copper is an essential part of reducing our carbon emissions.
Important factors to consider
The Invest UP survey that alleged to show 71% of people support the Copperwood Mine. According to polling experts, the poll was designed to get a positive result and would not have passed academic standards for gathering unbiased information. https://www.the906report.com/p/poll-finds-71-percent-approval-for-copperwood-mine-but-that-s-not-the-whole-story
According to their own filings, this mine is 323-acre waste basin would be visible from the Lake of the Clouds Overlook, as well as from Copper Peak and the North Country Trail - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zpUjAVgWiJ6wGbqC8eW4snQ9AWD2Tm7L/view
The mine is constantly compared to the Eagle Mine, it is not remotely the same operation. Eagle Mine reburies their waste and they do not operate UPHILL <500' of Lake Superior. There is NO instance of a sulfide mine containment system that hasn't leaked into the local ground or surface water. ZERO.
98.5% of the materials extracted from this mine is waste with an overwhelming chance of failing causing a catastrophic release of mining materials into Lake Superior. It's not a copper mine, it's a waste mine
The tailings pond is designed to withstand a 100-year rain event. Gogebic County has had two 1,000 year rain events in the past decade. We are in uncharted climate-related weather event terrritory. A 2024 model by the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission predicts that, in the event of a rupture at Copperwood's mine waste facility — the closest in history to Lake Superior — a flood of tailings over ten meters in depth could surge into both Lake Superior and the State Park in under 30 minute.
For an investment from the state of $50 million, Gogebic County is expected to get $114 million in tax revenue over 10 years from the mine. That is the worst investment in history when you consider the external costs of pollution and environmental degradation that will be left for the state of Michigan to remediate, the destruction of old-growth forest, the danger posed to 1/5 of the world's fresh surface water, and the known legacy of mining in the UP.
WE DON'T NEED THE COPPER - we have a refining capacity shortage, not a material shortage. The USGS names copper as a "critical mineral" but mined copper is still listed at a negative risk (page 37): thus, no undersupply of raw copper. https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2025/1047/ofr20251047.pdf. In any case this copper is being shipped out of the country.
The outdoor recreation industry in Michigan is the 3rd largest industry and dwarfs ALL mining by time 10xs. The Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park has a $50 million master plan that would add lifts and MTB trails, and upgrade the facilities bringing more visitors to the wester UP and preserving rather than destroying the area providing long term jobs and opportunities for small businesses that will be destroyed by there presence of 24/7 construction traffic, noise, light and water pollution, deforestation, habitat loss, and other negative consequences that will enrich a foreign company and extract resources from Michigan with a net negative benefit.