September 2023 Newsletter
September 1, 2023
Dear WRPC Member and Friends of the Menominee River
October 28th marks the 20th anniversary of the historic victory over the controversial Crandon mine project adjacent to the Mole Lake Sokaogon Chippewa Reservation. Veterans and supporters of the 28-year (1975-2003) battle against the Crandon metallic sulfide mine will gather on the Mole Lake Reservation to commemorate the grassroots environmental, sportfishing and tribal victory over the world’s largest energy company (Exxon) and the world’s largest mining company (BHP Billiton).
Situated at the headwaters of the Wolf River, the proposed underground shaft mine was one mile upstream from the tribe’s wild rice beds, five miles from the Forest County Potawatomi Reservation and 40 miles (via the Wolf River) upstream of the Menominee Nation. The mine would have destroyed Mole Lake’s wild rice beds and threatened the tourism industry downstream on the Wolf River. In the end, the Mole Lake Chippewa and the Forest County Potawatomi tribes purchased the 5,000-acre Crandon mine property and mineral rights for $16.5 million. The land is now managed as a conservation area devoted to sustainable land-management practices, tribal cultural values and tourism suitable to this environmentally sensitive area.
Wisconsin’s “Prove It First” law inspires water protectors in Minnesota and Michigan
The international mining industry was shocked when a broad multiracial, rural-based grassroots alliance defeated the world’s largest mining corporation. This same movement, against all odds, also succeeded in pressuring the Wisconsin legislature to pass Wisconsin’s “Prove It First” sulfide mining moratorium in 1997. This law prohibited the opening of a new mine in a sulfide ore body until a mining applicant could show where a similar mine had been operated for ten years elsewhere and closed for ten years without pollution from acid mine drainage.
To this day, the mining industry has been unable to show a single proven example of a non-polluting sulfide mine. Rather than try to comply with the law, the mining industry and the Republican-dominated legislature repealed the law in 2017. Now “Prove It First” legislation is being considered in Minnesota. Natalie Lashmet from the Coalition to SAVE the Menominee River has urged Michigan residents to contact their legislators to pass similar legislation in Michigan (Eagle Herald, August 30, 2023).
3rd Annual Water Celebration on Stephenson Island
On September 16, the Coalition to SAVE the Menominee River will hold its 3rd annual Water Celebration to remind everyone that the Gold Resource Corporation (GORO) still poses a pollution threat to the Menominee River and the sacred sites of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin. In June 2023 the National Park Service added Anaem Omot, a Menominee Nation cultural landscape along the Menominee River in Michigan and Wisconsin, to the National Register of Historic Places. This historic and cultural site contains burial grounds, raised agricultural fields and ancient dance rings of cultural significance to the Menominee Nation.
GORO’s hypocrisy about protecting culturally significant sites
After opposing the listing, GORO had the audacity to congratulate the Menominee Tribe and take credit for helping to identify the significant cultural resources of the site. Mr. Allen Palmiere, GORO’s CEO and President said “Protecting culturally significant sites is a key value for us. We have been eager to collaborate with the Menominee Tribe to ensure we contribute to the protection of this historic heritage site” (June 27, 2023 press release). GORO had sent a spokesperson to the Michigan State Historic Preservation Board to oppose the nomination in September 2022. David Anderson, the general manager of the Back Forty project had previously told Menominee County Commissioners that he was opposed to placing an area near Sixty Islands on the national historic register (Eagle Herald, February 10, 2022).
The site’s boundary bisects part of the Back Forty’s proposed open pit. While the designation would not prohibit mine construction, the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) may delay the permitting process and interfere with GORO’s desire for an expedited permitting schedule.
GORO’s financial instability
On July 6. 2023, GORO’s stock lost almost 20% of its market value. GORO immediately issued a press release saying “that it is unaware of the reason behind recent stock price volatility. The Company confirms that there is no material corporate development relating to its business and affairs that has not been previously announced. It is not our normal policy to comment on any volatility in our stock price; however, given the magnitude of the recent decline, we wanted to take this opportunity to provide clarity and address market concerns and we thank our shareholders for their continued support” (July 6, 2023).
This recent, unexplained, market volatility may be an indication of more serious underlying financial problems in advancing the stalled permitting process for the Back Forty project. On August 1, 2023 Ms. Kimberly Perry resigned her position as the Chief Financial Officer of GORO. Two other independent board members departed in June 2023. The long delayed economic feasibility study has yet to be released. After 21 years and multiple corporate sponsors, this project is no closer to being permitted.
An investor analyst who has been following GORO’s stock has recently written about GORO’s “highly controversial gold project for Seeking Alpha. GORO acquired the Back Forty for $23 million “with a highly uncertain outcome” after Aquila Resources went bankrupt and withdrew from the permitting process. “This acquisition has been quite an enigma. Who initially pushed for such an acquisition, gambling away more than $35 million? Utilizing precious cash that seems missing now could have been why the company stopped paying dividends, triggering another huge drop in stock price…This long string of adverse calamities mostly self-inflicted, has seriously eroded my confidence in this company” (“Gold Resource: A Concerning Trajectory,” August 2, 2023).
Left out of this financial analysis is the critical role of the organized opposition of citizens, environmental groups like the Coalition to SAVE the Menominee River and the Menominee Nation in challenging every permit of the Back Forty and making clear that this project has no social license to operate.
Membership Renewal Reminder
If the date of your mailing label is anytime before 09/23, it means your annual membership is due ($15 for regular or $5 for senior/low income. Thank you for your support in our efforts to protect our precious waters.
Stay tuned,
Al Gedicks, Executive Secretary
