November 1, 2016
Mr. Oskar Lewnowski, CIO
Orion Mine Finance Group
1211 Avenue of the Americas
Suite 3000
New York, NY 10036
Dear Mr. Lewnowski,
I am writing in regard to Orion’s 19% investment in Aquila Resources’ Back Forty metallic sulfide deposit in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Recent events have highlighted growing opposition to the project that may be of great interest to your shareholders.
PUBLIC TESTIMONY OF AL GEDICKS BEFORE THE MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY (MDEQ) ON PERMITS FOR AQUILA RESOURCES BACK FORTY PROJECT ON THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2016 AT THE STEPHENSON, MICHIGAN HIGH SCHOOL GYMNASIUM
Aquila Resources does not have a social license to operate
My name is Al Gedicks and I am the executive secretary of the Wisconsin Resources Protection Council. I am also an emeritus professor of environmental sociology at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
Tonight’s public hearing is about the permits that Aquila is seeking for an open pit metallic sulfide mine next to the Menominee River. This is a regulatory license.
However, the mining industry has come to recognize that there is also a social license to operate (SLO) that is intangible and unwritten, and cannot be granted by the DEQ or any other state agency or legal authority.
