State moves forward with $50M grant for U.P. mine, despite pushback from environmentalists

The Michigan Strategic Fund Board this week approved $50 million in funding for a copper mine in Gogebic County, despite pushback from environmental advocates. 

According to a statement from the office of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Copperwood Resources Inc. — which is owned by Canadian Mining Company Highland Copper — will receive $50 million to support the construction of the Copperwood Mine in Wakefield and Ironwood townships. 

“This $50 million grant is a wonderful endorsement from the State of Michigan and provides a significant financial boost to the economic strength of the Copperwood Project. We are thankful to Governor Whitmer and the hard-working team at MEDC for their relentless efforts and support,” Highland Copper CEO Barry O’Shea said in response to the board’s decision on Tuesday. 

However, the $50 million comes with some strings attached. In order to receive the funds, the mining company must secure $150 million in funding by Dec. 31, 2025. 

The Advance reached out to Highland Copper to ask how much funding it had gathered for the project, but the company did not respond to the request for comment.  

While the project is expected to generate $425 million in total capital investment and create 380 jobs in the western Upper Peninsula, environmental advocates are sounding the alarm on the impacts the mine could have on natural resources and Indigenous sovereignty. 

According to a fact sheet on the project from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the project would include tunneling underneath the westernmost portion of the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness state park, as well as a 100-foot setback from the Lake Superior shoreline for underground mining. 

The company has already performed environmental site preparation for the mine including diverting streams around its tailings basin and constructing a compensating wetland to offset wetland impacts.

Protect the Porkies, a nonprofit opposing the mining project, released a video responding to the board’s decision, calling it “Pure Hypocrisy,” referencing the Pure Michigan advertising campaign.

The group has raised concerns that the mine’s tailings basin, built on topography sloping towards Lake Superior, could result in contamination from heavy metals in the mine’s tailings if the tailings dam collapses. The organization also raised concerns about acid mine drainage, where sulfide tailings combine with air and water to form sulfuric acid, which dissolves and leaches heavy metals into ground or surface water.

The organization also noted on its website that The North Country Trail — which was recently incorporated into the National Park System —  would share a border with a 323-acre tailings waste facility. 

It also raised additional concerns about mining exhaust bringing heavy metals into the air and nearby waterways alongside accumulating in local wildlife. 

With the Copperwood Mine located within territory ceded in the 1842 Treaty of La Pointe, contamination of these resources would threaten Anishinaabe communities’ rights to hunt, fish and gather in the ceded territory. 

More than 15,000 people have signed Protect the Porkies’ petition, urging the Michigan State Senate, the U.S. National Park Service and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to stop the Copperwood Mine. 

At the Board’s Feb. 27 meeting, several residents and environmental advocates encouraged the board to vote no on funding the project.

“We kindly ask that you do not subsidize a foreign company’s boom and bust operation, which would drag the Western U.P. back to the frontlines of extraction while imposing noise pollution, light pollution, nonstop industrial traffic and subterranean blasting all into the heart of a beloved outdoor recreation area, all for the sake of copper, a non-critical mineral to be shipped shipped off to smelters in Canada,” said Tom Grotewohl, a Wakefield Township resident and founder of Protect the Porkies. 

Jane Fitkin, director of outreach and communication for Citizens for a Safe and Clean Lake Superior, said the responsibility for any impacts to Lake Superior and the regional recreation industry from the Copperwood Mine would fall on the initial catalyst for funding the project.

At the Tuesday meeting where the board approved the $50 million in funding, a report from MLive said that roughly half of the individuals who offered public comments raised concerns about the mine, while the other half spoke favorably.

According to Whitmer’s office, the mine would help source copper for mobility and clean tech industries, and would annually bring in more than $15 million in local, county, state and federal revenue as well as an annual $130 million increase in business spending across the state.

It also noted that 19 local units of government have issued resolutions of support in addition to 10 local institutions, including Northern Michigan University, providing letters of support.

State Sen. Ed McBroom (R-Vulcan) and state Rep. Greg Markannen (R-Hancock) also have backed the project, alongside Wakefield Township Supervisor Mandy Lake and Ironwood Township Supervisor Jay Kangas.

“For over a decade, Wakefield Township has been involved with and fully supports Highland Copper and their continuing efforts in creating a fully permitted, safe mining operation within our township and neighboring Ironwood Township,” said Lake in a statement. “The proposed Copperwood Mine brings hope to our surrounding communities to have a sustainable future in the Western Upper Peninsula.”