Flambeau Mine Still Polluting
What happens when a mine closes? A former Wisconsin mine has bloomed into a natural gem, but some see trouble below the surface
by Laura Schulte
July 31, 2025
If you would like to view a pdf version of this story, click here: Flambeau Mine Pollution – MJS
LADYSMITH – At first glance, the Flambeau Mine Reclamation area is a paradise.
Tall grasses wave in the wind. Moths and other insects float among the flowers, and walking paths meander through, giving walkers a view of the rolling grounds that were once ripped open for an open pit mine.
It’s quiet, though you can hear the buzz of vehicles in the distance. In one area of the park, there’s a path for equestrians to use. Walking groups meander along the trails.
Environmental advocate Laura Gauger is shown on the site of the former Flambeau Mine, May 13, 2025, in Ladysmith, Wisconsin. According to the DNR, the mine is “the only example of a metallic mine that was permitted, constructed, operated and reclaimed under the state’s existing regulatory framework. The open-pit copper-gold mine began operations in July 1991 and reclamation activities were substantially completed by the end of 1999.” – Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
By all accounts it’s a peaceful slice of nature.
But locals point to unseen things that distort the peace of the natural area.
In a stream alongside the old mining property, high levels of zinc and manganese have been detected for years, resulting in the water body, known as Stream C, being placed on the state’s impaired waters list. Stream C directly empties into the Flambeau River, which wends its way along the old pit.
Then there’s the plume of arsenic that’s been detected in the groundwater in recent years, which advocates say is leeching out of the area that was once the mine.
Laura Gauger, a pharmacist and a resident of Duluth, Minnesota, is one of the concerned citizens who has been keeping an eye on the mine for years. She learned of the mine when she lived in Wisconsin, and has spent years advocating for the health of the environment in the area.
Before the mine opened, she protested the selection of the site in Ladysmith. During the mining years, 1993-1997, she kept an eye on operations, eventually penning a book with other advocates.
This photo shows the Flambeau Mine during its operation 1993 – 1997. Metallic mining has seen little activity in Wisconsin after the Flambeau Mining Co. ore mine closed in 1997 after four years of operation. The site was reclaimed 1999. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
This photo shows the Flambeau Mine site in 2006. Metallic mining has seen little activity in Wisconsin after the Flambeau Mining Co. ore mine closed in 1997 after four years of operation. The site was reclaimed 1999. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
Now, she worries that the company that mined the pit and still owns the property, Flambeau Mining Co., is trying to distract from the toxins finding ways into the surface and groundwater in the area.
And she’s also concerned about the fact that other mining companies — such as Greenlight Metals, which is conducting exploratory drilling in central Wisconsin — are using the Flambeau Mine as an example of safe mining, while ignoring the real impacts to the groundwater surrounding the mine.
“What really burns me up is how these companies that are pushing for the new mines are promoting the Flambeau Mine as a success story,” she said. “And the problem is that when you’re hiking over the grassy area, you can’t see the groundwater pollution, or if you look at Stream C, you can’t see it’s highly contaminated.”
The history of Ladysmith’s legendary mine
The Kennecott Mining Co., owned by the Rio Tinto Mining Co., started exploring the area for mining in the late 1960s and applied for permits in the 1970s. The original plan included an open-pit mine, followed by years of underground mining to extract the remaining precious copper, gold and silver.
Issues with the permitting process had halted the plans until the late 1980s, when Flambeau Mining Co., a subsidiary of Kennecott, reassessed the project and decided that the deposits could be sufficiently reached using only an open-pit mine for a short period.
The mine opened in 1993, and 181,000 tons of copper were found, along with 334,000 ounces of gold and 3.3 million ounces of silver, according to information from the Department of Natural Resources.
The rock, once hauled out of the pit, was put into railcars and carried to Canada, where it was refined and sold.
By 1997, the company had harvested all the minerals it could, and the reclamation process started.
The company filled the pit with leftover rock and other leftovers from the operation. It was mixed with limestone, which can help prevent the formation of acid mine drainage. The pit was capped off, and nature was allowed to take its course.
Prairie grass and wildflowers sprouted. Trails were cut into the grass for recreation.
By 1999, the reclamation process of the mining site was complete, aside from 32 acres where industrial operations were located. It wasn’t until 2022 that the DNR awarded a certificate for the reclamation of that site.
But Rio Tinto, the company that owned Flambeau Mining, has celebrated the reclamation as a success. It routinely touts the closed mine, and on the day a reporter visited the site, it was leading a tour of the grassy reclamation area.
The company did not agree to an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, but instead shared a statement from Leland Roberts, an environmental policy adviser for the company.
A fisherman works the Flambeau River near the site of the former Flambeau Mine, May 13 202 in Ladysmith, Wisconsin. According to the DNR, the mine is “the only example of a metallic mine that was permitted, constructed, operated and reclaimed under the state’s existing regulatory framework. The open-pit gold mine began operations in July 1991 and reclamation activities were substantially completed by the end of 1999.” – Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“We are proud of the Flambeau Mine site’s longstanding and strong environmental record. All monitoring done at the site, dating back decades, shows that the site is in full compliance with all of its permits, that the groundwater and environment are protected, and that the Flambeau River was, and remains, protected,” Roberts said in the statement.
“All of our monitoring results are shared with the WDNR, and the Department is fully transparent in publishing those on its website for public review at any time.”
Advocates aren’t convinced. Those with concerns about the site, like Gauger, kept tabs on monitoring data from the groundwater wells located around the mining site, and levels of heavy metals such as iron, arsenic and manganese in Stream C.
Though they lost in court in 2012 after filing a Clean Water Act challenge, they still hold that the contamination is having an impact.
They worry that because the contamination is unseen to the naked eye, the company is getting away with fooling the public.
“That’s how Rio Tinto can get away with suggesting there’s nothing to fear,” Gauger said.
‘It’s fairly contaminated’
Advocates have been watching the levels of contaminants in groundwater and Stream C for years.
They look at the data collected by the DNR and Rio Tinto that is made public through records requests, and have scientists analyze it.
A culvert from “stream C” is shown on the site of the former Flambeau Mine, May 13 2025 in Ladysmith, Wisconsin. Copper has been detected in the stream which flowers into the Flambeau River. According to the DNR, the mine is “the only example of a metallic mine that was permitted, constructed, operated and reclaimed under the state’s existing regulatory framework. The open-pit copper-gold mine began operations in July 1991 and reclamation activities were substantially completed by the end of 1999.” – Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Dave Chambers, a hydrogeologist and the founder of the Center for Science in Public Participation, which aids communities in challenging mining activity, is one of those scientists. Focused mostly on the contamination in Stream C, he’s seen the varying levels of pollution.
Historically, high copper and zinc levels have been found in the stream, which is technically classified as a navigable waterway. Each spring it swells with runoff from the snowmelt, and fish can be seen traversing it to spawning waters.
Chambers said the zinc has mostly dissipated, and it’s only sometimes above drinking water standards. But the copper levels have remained high.
“In the lower part of the stream, it exceeds drinking water levels quite regularly,” he said.
He believes that the contamination stems from the dust generated during the mining process. When rock and minerals were pulled from the ground, they were dumped into railcars and hauled away.
“When you move ore like that in an open environment, you always create dust,” he said.
The company’s lack of reaction to the contamination that routinely shows up in tests troubles Chambers.
“They’re saying there’s not a problem there, and in doing so, they and the state are telling the public that these streams don’t matter much,” he said. “That a little contamination is OK, because the stream isn’t orange and the fish aren’t belly up. If that’s what their attitude is with this mine, we could see that with future mines.”
Groundwater is also an issue. Especially inside the pit, wells monitoring groundwater contamination have picked up arsenic and manganese at high levels. Manganese is more of a nuisance, but arsenic can cause cancer in humans, Chambers said. And both contaminants are hard to remove from the water once they’re in it.
The mining company mixed limestone in the materials used to backfill the pit to neutralize contaminants, but that method only works for so long. The only comfort is that it seems the contamination isn’t rapidly spreading throughout the mine site and groundwater at a fast rate.
“It’s fairly contaminated,” Chambers said. “The good news is it’s not going anywhere fast.”
Dave Blouin, the state political chair of the Sierra Club Wisconsin, said the contamination levels being detected are concerning. But because it’s all been detected on the grounds of the mine site, there’s not much to be done about it. The state’s mining regulations say as long as the contamination is on the mining property, it’s legal.
“It’s our big concern,” he said.
Because the old mine site is located so close to the Flambeau River, there’s concern that groundwater pollution or the contamination from Stream C could dump into the river, which the company isn’t required to monitor.
“To what extent it’s contributing to the Flambeau River, we’re not sure,” he said.
Molly Meister, a DNR spokesperson, said the agency reviews all data from the company and analyzes half of the samples collected from monitoring wells and Stream C. She acknowledged levels of arsenic rising in one of the wells placed in the old pit, but said there isn’t a threat to safety.
“It is not considered statistically significant,” she said in an email.
Otherwise, the mine site has received all necessary permits for reclamation.
“Monitoring will continue for many more years and those results will establish whether or not the mine continues to be in compliance with the applicable standards,” she said.
Justifying more mining?
The Flambeau Mine site in recent years has been held up as a success story that justifies more mining in Wisconsin.
Companies like Greenlight Metals, which is conducting mineral exploration in central and northern Wisconsin, cite the closed Flambeau Mine as an example of a successful mine that hasn’t caused much injury to the environment.
To Gauger, the environmental advocate, the Flambeau comparison is a distortion because of the short-lived nature and limited scope of its operation. For example, the minerals were shipped elsewhere for processing. New mines in Wisconsin would likely need to process onsite or nearby, which would mean the materials left behind after processing would directly impact the nearby environment.
“There’s no comparison between the very tiny Flambeau Mine and the much larger and more complicated projects on the horizon,” Gauger said. “It’s like comparing apples to oranges.”
Steve Donohue, a member of the board of directors for Greenlight Metals, said the company is using the Flambeau mine as a study.
“We actually think Flambeau is a pretty successful project,” Donohue said in an interview.
The issues with contamination of groundwater in the pit aren’t much different from what you’d see at a landfill, he said, and the area is actually licensed as a waste management facility.
Blouin, of the Sierra Club, said if a company like Greenlight were to open several mines in the state, there would likely be a central processing facility where all of the raw ore is taken.
“That results in not just one mine site, but a whole new site somewhere else with the risks of milling and processing,” he said.
Donohue said that exploration hasn’t gone far enough to know where processing will take place yet.
Chambers, the scientist, said companies should see the Flambeau site as less of a green light and more of a warning. Without processing, there is still contamination.
“It’s a cautionary tale,” he said.
Chambers said if the state moves quickly to permit new mines, and the companies continue to tell people that mines are safe, they’re only leading communities to disappointment.
“If the message is we’re going to have mines, and the price is water quality contamination, then let’s say that up front,” he said. “That we don’t care about contamination, we’re willing to have that.”
