Army Corps Objects to Kennecott Haul Road

Once again, the Army Corps of Engineers has objected to Kennecott’s planned ore hauling road, in Marquette County.  The road project, formerly called “Woodland Road,” but now going by “County Road 595” and applied for by the county road commission, “is deficient in several areas,” according to a letter dated March 29, sent from the Corps’ Detroit office to the Environmental Protection Agency.
The letter makes clear that the “the primary beneficiary of the route as proposed would be Kennecott.”  According to the Corps, 595 “is the most direct route from the Eagle Mine to Kennecott’s ore processing facility,” in Humboldt Township, so the road plan should be clear it would be built largely to service Kennecott’s mining operations.

Read the rest at Headwaters News.

Locals Travel to London to Ask Rio Tinto for Air Monitoring

A press release from two Big Bay residents traveling to Rio Tinto’s Annual General Meeting this week. . .

Press Release April 15, 2012

Two Upper Peninsula women are traveling to London, England to attend the Rio Tinto Annual General Meeting taking place April 19, 2012.

Talking Points for Public Hearing on Kennecott’s Mine Haul Road

Kennecott’s plans for a mine hauling road to connect its Eagle Mine with its Humboldt Mill has been in the works for nearly a decade. Last submitted as the “Woodland Road,” Kennecott is now getting the Marquette County Road Commission to submit it under a new name: “County Road 595.” Kennecott hopes that by presenting the mine hauling road as a public road, it can avoid scrutiny and get the road approved quickly.

Here are some talking points to use at the February 21 DEQ hearing on the road and to write your own comment letter. See the bottom of this posting for information on the DEQ hearing, how to submit written comments until March 2, as well as for links to the application itself.

Permitting for Penokee Mine Shouldn’t Be Rushed

by Al Gedicks

Should the state’s regulatory authority over the metallic mine permitting process be dramatically reduced to accommodate the wishes of a mining company to receive a permit in record time? This is not a hypothetical question.

Gogebic Taconite (GTAC) has met with several legislators about its proposed open pit iron ore (taconite) mine along the border of Ashland and Iron counties to push legislation that would drastically speed up the mine permitting process.

Menominee County Explorer Loses Human Rights Court Case

A high court in Guatemala has ruled against HudBay Minerals, a partner with Aquila Resources on the Back Forty open pit gold-zinc metallic sulfide mine, in Menominee County

Interactive Quiz: Busting Rio Tinto’s Mythmaking

Time to sit down with the kids and get your thinking caps on for LSMN’s first-ever interactive quiz.

Video of Rio Tinto’s Annual Meeting

by the London Mining Network’s Richard Solly and filmmaker Susi Arnott: