June 2023 Newsletter
June 7, 2023
Dear WRPC Member and Friends of the Menominee River,
Despite assuring shareholders that the Gold Resource Corporation (GORO) would have all of the necessary mine permits in hand by the end of 2022, they have not even applied for any permits to date. However, on January 23, 2023, GORO filed a petition with the Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) to reject the nomination of Anaem Omot (The Dog’s Belly) historic and cultural site by the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin. The nominated area along the Menominee River contains burial grounds, raised agricultural fields and ancient dance rings of cultural significance to the Menominee Nation.
GORO stalls listing of Menominee Nation’s cultural landscape on National Register of Historic Places
GORO’s petition requests the Keeper to “review and ultimately reject the nomination of Anaem Omot to the NRHP as presented.” GORO’s objections to the nomination were previously dismissed by Michigan State Historic Preservation board members in September 2022. The State Historic Preservation Offices in both Michigan and Wisconsin unanimously approved the designation. If the designation is approved, “the boundary would cut through a small but significant portion of the planned mine – the open pit itself, where gold, silver, copper and zinc would be extracted” (Garret Ellison and Alyssa Burr, “Anaem Omot: Michigan gold mine fights tribe over historic land,” February 14, 2023, M Live.com).
GORO’s petition means that the State Historic Preservation Offices must make technical corrections to the application and resubmit the nomination to the Keeper so that the property may be listed in the National Register.
GreenLight Metals Plans to Start Drilling the Bend Deposit in the Chequamegon National Forest
The Bend Deposit is an enriched massive sulfide deposit of mostly copper and gold, located about 19 miles north of Medford, along the north fork of the Yellow River in Taylor County. The Bend site encompasses more than 5,000 acres of National Forest land. The deposit was originally discovered in 1986 and drilled in the early 1990s by the Jump River Joint Venture (JRVC).
NDU Resource, a Canadian exploration company and partner in JRVC, pulled out of the project in 1991, citing a lack of funding and concern about environmental opposition to the project. JRVC’s drilling subcontractor was fined by the U.S. Forest Service for improper waste disposal of 55-gallon diesel oil barrels and used drilling bits that contaminated forest land, according to Greg Knight, with the U.S. Forest Service in Medford. Much of the opposition arose because cyanide would be used to extract gold from the deposit. (Mary Jo Kewley, “Cyanide may be used to mine gold in state,” Wausau Daily Herald, December 12, 1990). This also coincided with the 1991 temporary shutdown of construction at the Flambeau mine site in Ladysmith when the Wisconsin DNR was ordered to do a supplementary environmental review of endangered species in the Flambeau River. The Wisconsin Sierra Club and the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe Tribe won the temporary injunction after the DNR failed to mention the impact of the proposed mine on the endangered species when the original environmental impact statement was released in 1990.
Aquila Resources conducted drilling at both the Bend deposit in Taylor County and the Reef gold deposit in Marathon County in 2012 but did not pursue mining permits. After passage of Wisconsin’s “Prove it First” Mining Moratorium Law in 1998, no mining company was able to show where sulfide mining did not cause pollution of local water supplies. Instead, Aquila lobbyist Ron Kuehn pushed the state Legislature to repeal the Mining Moratorium Law. (Ron Seely, “Lobbyists pushing for repeal,” Wisconsin State Journal, November 18, 2012). In 2017 the law was repealed and Wisconsin’s clean water was at the mercy of mine polluters.
Green Light plans to dispose of acidic waste below the groundwater level
On May 4, 2023, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources gave conditional approval for GreenLight Metals (GLM) to drill up to eight holes at six sites within the Chequamegon-Nicolet Forest. This was the third version of GLM’s exploration drilling plans. Previous versions failed to provide adequate information about the safety of the drilling. Sources trying to get the DNR to enforce State Code requirements for drilling and filling exploration drillholes indicate that the DNR failed to require GLM to consider the impacts to groundwater from disposing of acidic waste below the groundwater level in sump pits dug 10-feet deep into the forest floor at each drill site. The Hydrogeology Project of the U.S Forest Service confirms that the groundwater at the drill sites is connected to the nearby north fork of the Yellow River and the surrounding standing surface waters.
Before drilling can begin, the company must obtain a wastewater permit and obtain the permission of the U.S. Forest Service that owns the 40-acre site. The drillholes are up to 1,350 feet deep in a wetland area surrounded by standing water peat bogs and flowing rivers. About 100-120 feet of glacial sediments cover the deposit.
GLM, doing business as GreenLight Wisconsin (GLW), is a spinoff company from Aquila Resources, the same company promoting the bankrupt Back Forty Project. Barry Hildred, the former CEO of Aquila, is on the board of directors of GLM. Tom Quigley, the founder of Aquila Resources, is also on the board. In June 2021, Aquila sold the Bend and Reef exploration properties in Taylor and Marathon Counties. Aquila needed an immediate infusion of cash to continue the failed Back Forty permitting process after the company’s wetland permit was overturned and the remaining permits were withdrawn. After Aquila was acquired by GORO in December 2021, GLM became an affiliate company of GORO.
GLM’s claim that copper and gold are necessary for the clean energy transition is “greenwashing”
Despite claims of “clean mining,” the industry cannot point to a single example where sulfide mining has not polluted the environment. That’s why they had to repeal Wisconsin’s “Prove it First” law. Now the industry is using the fact that certain metals are key for green technologies to greenwash the metal mining industry. Dan Colton, CEO of GLM, has claimed that “These are the metals that are crucially needed in the manufacturing of these clean energy technologies.” According to the U.S. Geological Survey’s 2022 list of critical minerals, neither gold nor copper are considered critical to the U.S. economy. And there’s no shortage of copper so there’s no need for additional copper production from Wisconsin.
“Mining companies used to have to prove they wouldn’t pollute,” says mine opponent Nancy Stencil. “Our communities are saying we should not have to sacrifice clean water. Water is life.”
Stay tuned, Al Gedicks, Executive Secretary
