Eagle mine project
Encyclopedia
The Eagle mine project is a proposed nickel
Nickel
Nickel is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel belongs to the transition metals and is hard and ductile...

 and copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...

 mine by Kennecott Minerals Corporation, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto
Rio Tinto Group
The Rio Tinto Group is a diversified, British-Australian, multinational mining and resources group with headquarters in London and Melbourne. The company was founded in 1873, when a multinational consortium of investors purchased a mine complex on the Rio Tinto river, in Huelva, Spain from the...

. The company is currently considering opening the mine on the Yellow Dog Plains
Yellow Dog Plains
The Yellow Dog Plains is an area north and west of Marquette, Michigan, in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, United States. The Yellow Dog River flows through it, as does the Salmon Trout River. The Salmon Trout River is unique in that it has a breeding population of coasters, a potamodramous form...

 in Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

's Upper Peninsula
Upper Peninsula of Michigan
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is the northern of the two major land masses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan. It is commonly referred to as the Upper Peninsula, the U.P., or Upper Michigan. It is also known as the land "above the Bridge" linking the two peninsulas. The peninsula is bounded...

 (U.S.). Nickel and copper are the principal metals to be mined, but cobalt
Cobalt
Cobalt is a chemical element with symbol Co and atomic number 27. It is found naturally only in chemically combined form. The free element, produced by reductive smelting, is a hard, lustrous, silver-gray metal....

, platinum
Platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pt and an atomic number of 78. Its name is derived from the Spanish term platina del Pinto, which is literally translated into "little silver of the Pinto River." It is a dense, malleable, ductile, precious, gray-white transition metal...

, palladium
Palladium
Palladium is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pd and an atomic number of 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1803 by William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas, which was itself named after the epithet of the Greek goddess Athena, acquired...

 and gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

 would also be recovered as by-products. Initial excavation of the mine tunnel began on October 1, 2011.

Overview

Eagle would be a decline-accessed underground mine, primarily utilizing blast hole stopes for production. Lately, interest in the project both locally and state wide has increased due to the submission of a mining permit application for the project. The project has garnered local opposition as well as support. The opposition groups claim that the mine will produce environmental damage, while supporters and the company claim the mine will protect the environment while producing much-needed jobs.

Construction and excavation started in 2010, with production beginning in 2013. The surface plant for the mine will cover less than 100 acres (40.5 ha), and ore processing will be done off site at the nearby Humboldt Mill. The mine will be backfilled as mining progresses. Mining the underground orebody is projected to continue until 2023, after which the surface facilities will be removed and the site will be reclaimed.

The ore deposit contains 4.1 million metric tons of rock containing 3.6 percent nickel and 2.9 percent copper. Reserves are estimated as up to 140,000 metric tons of nickel and 91,000 metric tons of copper, as well as platinum, palladium, and cobalt.

Some Native Americans believe that the mine site is sacred. Several groups are protesting the development of the mine.

Permitting

On July 30, 2007 the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality
Michigan Department of Environmental Quality
The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality was the agency of the state of Michigan charged with "Protecting Michigan's Environment - Ensuring Michigan's Future"-History:...

 (DEQ) re-issued preliminary approval for the mining permit. The permit was initially approved in January 2007, however it was found that the DEQ failed to release documents relating to the crown pillar of the mine. As a result the preliminary approval was withdrawn and the permit process was put on hold until the issue could be further investigated. The resulting investigation cleared the DEQ of any wrong doing and the consideration of the permit application was able to proceed.

On December 14, 2007, the DEQ announced that it would issue permits for mining to take place at the Eagle project. DEQ Director Steven Chester said: "In the end, Kennecott's proposal met the high standard set by Michigan's environmental laws."

"The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) issued a Surface Use Lease to Kennecott on February 7, granting use of a parcel of state land for surface facilities to be associated with the mine. The same four petitioners also filed suit in Ingham Circuit Court challenging the DNR decision to grant the lease.

Kennecott also submitted an application for an Underground Injection Control permit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) for its proposed disposal system for treated wastewater. The USEPA has not indicated a timeframe for acting on the application.

The DNR Surface Use Lease is not effective until final approval is granted for all other required permits, i.e., until such time as the USEPA grants a permit and any administrative appeals of the DEQ and USEPA permits are decided. However, Kennecott has the right in the meantime to begin construction of some surface facilities on land the company owns."

Contested case hearing

"The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) issued a Mining Permit, Air Use Permit, and Groundwater Discharge Permit to Kennecott Eagle Minerals Company (Kennecott) for the Eagle Project mine on December 14, 2007. The National Wildlife Federation, Huron Mountain Club, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, and Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve filed administrative appeals contesting the issuance of the Mining Permit and Groundwater Discharge Permit on December 21. Kennecott has been granted intervener status in the contested case. The case is scheduled to be heard by an administrative law judge beginning on April 28, 2008. Under contested case procedures, the law judge hears the case and submits a proposal for decision to the DEQ Director, who then makes the final DEQ decision. The four petitioners also filed a lawsuit in Ingham Circuit Court contesting issuance of the Air Use Permit."

See also

  • Acid mine drainage
    Acid mine drainage
    Acid mine drainage , or acid rock drainage , refers to the outflow of acidic water from metal mines or coal mines. However, other areas where the earth has been disturbed may also contribute acid rock drainage to the environment...

  • Copper mining in Michigan
    Copper mining in Michigan
    While it originated thousands of years earlier, copper mining in Michigan became an important industry in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Its rise marked the start of copper mining as a major industry in the United States.-Geology:...

  • Hard rock mining
  • Sulfide mining
    Sulfide mining
    Sulfide mining a colloquial term used in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota to describe the act of mining of ore which contains significant quantities of sulfide minerals....


External links

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