Public Meeting Held on Proposed Penokee Iron Mine

Huge open pit mine would change the face of northern Wisconsin

A standing-room-only crowd of roughly 250 people braved a cold January evening in search of information on an open pit iron mine recently proposed for Iron and Ashland Counties, in Wisconsin.

The meeting, moderated by Northland College President Mike Miller, was initiated by reporter Mike Simonson of KUWS (UW-Superior) and Wisconsin Public Radio.  Simonson said he organized the meeting out of concern that solid information on the proposed mine had been all too scarce.

Relying on a folksy speaking style, Gogebic Taconite spokesperson Matthew Fifield focused primarily on the economic benefits his company’s mine could bring, stating that similar mines in northern Minnesota employ about 600 workers.  Fifield said that, despite having less favorable geology his company’s mine could compete with established mines by operating more efficiently and relying heavily on automation, which requires fewer workers.

Fifield noted that the first stage of mining would result in an open pit 4.5 miles long and up to little over a half-mile wide.  The company estimates that there is roughly 2.2 billion tons of low-grade ore in the ground that would require a significant investment to extract and process.  According to Fifield the company still has to complete economic feasibility studies for the project.

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The Penokee Range as seen looking west from Corrigan's Lookout in Iron County, May 2008. Upson Lake is in the middle of the photo.

Gogebic Taconite is a limited-liability company created by the Cline Group, a coal-mining company based in Florida with operations in Illinois and the Appalachian mountains.  Gogebic Taconite has purchased an option to lease 22,000 acres of mineral and surface rights from the LaPointe Iron Company, out of Hibbing, Minnesota, and RGGS Land & Minerals, from Texas.  A lease would eventually take effect if the project made it through the permitting process.

Bruce Brown, from the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey (WGNHS), discussed the history of iron ore mining in the region.  Bowen described how, starting in the 1880s, several deep underground mines had extracted iron oxide deposits containing up to 60% iron.  Eventually these deposits were depleted, and the last of these mines closed in 1965.  Left behind were large deposits of low-grade magnetite, containing about 20% iron.  Because the ore deposit is relatively deep and narrow, and slopes steeply downward, large amounts of “waste” must be removed to get at it.  This low-grade ore requires a mill and pelletizing plant to grind it to sand, or even dust-size particles, and separate the iron-rich fractions.  This process raises the iron concentration to the 60% level, where it can be shipped and used by steel smelters.

The final speaker, Ojibwe tribal elder and spiritual leader Tony DePerry, said some things in life are more important than money.  DePerry said he has worked a number of jobs during his rather storied life, including as a heavy equipment instructor, a job which he gave up when he realized the work he was doing did not mesh with his beliefs about caring for the earth.  DePerry talked about the sense of responsibility the Ojibwe people have traditionally felt towards the land and future generations.  He pointed out that decisions today would affect future generations.

The presentations were followed by questions from the audience, the vast majority of them critical of the project.  Questions ranged from how the company would mitigate the “boom and bust” economic cycle that typically hits communities when mining moves in, to how the company would avoid substantial environmental damage associated with this type of mining.  One person asked whether the state’s mining laws could be changed to favor the mine, to which Fifield replied that the company did have a “government affairs team” but that this “team” would not attempt to weaken laws regulating mining.

Amazingly, the location of the 4.5 mile long stretch of ore body that Gogebic Taconite wants to begin mining was never mentioned, nor did anyone ask where it would be.

Click here to see a map showing the low-grade iron ore deposit; the portion of the iron ore body controlled by Gogebic Taconite (shown in light blue) extends from west of Mellen in Ashland County, east to Upson in Iron County.

A widely-circulated graphic published in a November Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article shows the “lease area” as running north of Highway 77 from Mellen to Upson.  However, according to US Geological Survey documents, the ore body, which begins in central Ashland County, actually runs south of the highway (see map), stretching east into the UP.  The map shows the portion of the ore body controlled by the Cline Group and Gogebic Taconite LLC.  It appears that the area Gogebic Taconite is interested in mining first is in Iron County, just south of Tyler Forks and Hwy 77, and just east of the Ashland County border.

The ore body underlies a band of rocky hills, the roots of an ancient mountain range.  Much of this land is owned by Iron County and is relatively isolated.  Mature northern hardwood forest dominates the landscape, with pockets of old growth surviving in the more inaccessible areas.  Hilltops support oak and pine forests.  Small streams run between the hills, dissecting the landscape.  This diverse landscape provides habitat for a broad diversity of plants and animals.  The area includes the headwaters of several major rivers, including the Bad, Tyler Forks, and Potato Rivers.  Much of the water that flows into Lake Superior comes from the Penokees.

If it were to proceed, this mine and associated development would undoubtedly change the landscape of northern Wisconsin.  A swath of jagged, forested hills up to 22 miles long and one-half mile wide would be permanently altered.  Logging and tourism jobs would jeopardized as square mile after square mile of prime recreational and timberlands were turned to rubble.  As the pit became deeper, more and more groundwater would have to be pumped out, eventually lowering the surrounding water table.  River and stream levels would likely drop, and area wells might be affected as well. But that would be just the beginning.

As pointed out in Bruce Brown’s presentation, large amounts of “overburden” must be removed to get at these deposits.  Then the iron must be extracted from the ore, leaving more waste called “tailings.”  The overburden would have to be piled near the mine pit, while the tailings would be deposited into a “tailings basin” near the processing plant.  In neighboring Minnesota and Michigan these waste deposits often end up covering several square miles of land (the tailings basin for the US Steel mine in northern Minnesota now occupies 16 square miles).  So besides the mine pit, more of the landscape would be lost under millions of tons of rubble.

Contaminated surface and groundwater may also affect areas upstream from the proposed mine.  Sediments, asbestos, sulfates, mercury and heavy metals have contaminated waters near other iron mines, harming fish, plants (including wild rice) and other aquatic life.  At-risk areas include the Kakagon-Bad River Sloughs, perhaps the largest and most pristine wetland complex along Lake Superior.

If the company decided to mine other metals within the deposit other issues may come into play.  A US Geological Survey report states that the Gogebic-Penokee Range has “a high potential for undiscovered copper and nickel deposits. . . if iron mining were to occur, copper could be produced as a by-product, and pose risks inherent to all metallic sulfide ore mining.”

For more information on the meeting, download the audio by clicking here.

Read the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History’s explanation of Wisconsin’s iron mining laws by clicking here.

This post was written by

Casey Duncan – who has written 8 posts on Headwaters - Community Journalism for the Great Lakes.

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