Canadian company Highland Copper wants to build a copper sulfide mine which will extract minerals directly beneath Porcupine Mountains State Park, the largest old growth forest in the midwest, and risk contaminating the Presque Isle River and Lake Superior with acid mine drainage

Hi friends,

There is a plan to build a copper sulfide mine right next to the west entrance of Porcupine Mountains State Park, which has the largest old-growth forest in the midwest. The mine would be so close it would literally drill beneath Park property. It is also right next to the Presque Isle River, and only a few miles from Lake Superior, which is 10% of the world's surface fresh water. In other words, it's an absolutely terrible place for a mine.

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Metallic sulfide mining extracts metal from sulfide-bearing ore. In this case, the metal is copper. Sulfides are a byproduct -- the left-overs when the copper has been extracted. When sulfides are exposed to water and air they create sulfuric acid – basically, battery acid. This contamination is called acid mine drainage and lasts for thousands of years.

Only two weeks ago copper was denied status as a critical mineral by the U.S. Geological Survey. So there is absolutely NO NEED to be fast-tracking a mine next to so many important ecological and recreational resources. Porcupine Mountains State Park is the largest State Park in Michigan, it is the largest old growth forest in the Midwest, it is the only State Park that is designated wilderness, and it needs to be protected.

This is not a protest against mining in principle -- of course extracted minerals contribute much to important technologies that we all use-– however this particular mine would be in an ATROCIOUS location, due to the proximity of so many fresh water sources and a one-of-a-kind old growth ecosystem.

Unfortunately, locals here are not well informed. I'm hoping you good folks on the internet will sign this petition to give it some steam: https://chng.it/jGmxFw6RM8

For more information check out www.ProtectThePorkies.com

Thank you, take care.

UPDATE: There is now a subreddit r/CancelCopperwood if anybody wants to join in the conspiring

in yooperby NomadGuitar

177

93%

11mo

HiddenKrypt

11mo

Remember when they wanted to do sulfide mining in the yellow dog river? And they said it would be fine because they were going to be careful? And they built it anyway despite the massive protests?

Remember how a truck tipped over and spilled sulfide tailings right into the water? And they had a wastewater leak? And they dumped 100 gallons of hydrocloric acid from a leaky valve? all in like the first year of operation

notcrazypants

11mo

Pepridge Farm remembers

mschr493

11mo

Oooh I 'member!

Professional-Luck229

11mo

Can you cite a source for any of this? Only incident I recall was a haul truck tipping near sugarloaf with zero environmental impact.

Nezrite

11mo

Thanks for drawing attention to this.

IceGoddessLumi

11mo

Signed and promoted.

"When the last tree is cut down, the last fish eaten, and the last stream poisoned, you will realize that you cannot eat money."

redisherfavecolor

11mo

They’ve been trying to open a mine there for years. They promised at the beginning it would be mechanical extraction. Also the typical Republican “it will create jobs!” Bullshit.

Yes, let’s destroy our natural resources so that a few out of the area folks can get richer. Like our iron and copper mines before where our dads, grandpas, and uncles broke their backs to make folks in Milwaukee richer.

Fuck that.

bigfut-73

11mo

Signed and shared on Twitter.

horsedd

11mo

Keep in mind this isn’t even an American company. Signed.

notcrazypants

11mo

Signed! Must protect the few remaining natural assets we have.

nyerinup

11mo

Thank you for bringing our attention to this.

exhaustedhorti

11mo

I'd cross share this in the BWCA subreddit too. While not the BWCA it's adjacent and a lot of people there would happily sign this petition.

redisherfavecolor

11mo

A petition isn’t going to do anything. And locals in the area are well informed, they don’t care. They’re right wing assholes who want jobs in the area and think mining is a good thing because “grandpa, dad, uncle” or whichever relative worked their lives away to make some Milwaukee asshole richer.

It took the EPA to shut down white pine copper mine when it wanted to start sulfide mining under Lake Superior. My uncle worked there up until the smelting operation stopped a few years ago.

MaddGerman

11mo

You would rather buy from China? Fuck you too.

redisherfavecolor

11mo

I’d rather not destroy my lake. If you think poisoning Lake Superior is fine and dandy, you can have the biggest fuck you.

Here’s the view from copper peak:

https://i.imgur.com/qy0Rd3A.jpg

If you want to destroy that, you’re an idiot.

Bumbahkah

11mo

What a bunch of jackasses

echoedeco

11mo

Ain’t gonna happen

[deleted]

11mo

Signed. Have you put this on any of the yooper fb pages?

estoka

11mo

That area where they are planning to mine is one of the most beautiful areas in the country. All they're going to do is destroy it just like they destroyed Torch Lake in Houghton County.

For all of the rural people getting ready to talk about good paying jobs, you probably won't get any of them. Most of the workforce will come from out of state for a project like this.

They come in and take our resources, make themselves rich, and leave us with a destroyed environment and cancer. Please convince your right-wing friends that Jesus doesn't want rich people to become richer.

Lower-Action

Houghton

11mo

Signed!

I recall reading about this earlier in the spring. I had thought they were going after White Pine and reusing that area. I had no idea they were pillaging new!

Spearfish87

11mo

I do not support this mine at all but for all the people out there wanting renewable energy and electric vehicles this is what needs to happen to get there. Our electrical infrastructure is not sufficient to support a transition to green energy and electric cars without mining for copper.

Smurk56

11mo

Good luck funding good, qualified, competent people to operate a mine.

jettmann22

11mo

And ethical

Hamblin113

-1

11mo

For every copper mine proposed(mines in general) there is out cry about the grave harm it will do. Doesn’t matter where it is located. In the US there is more $ to fight it. In addition there is more regulation and oversight to get things right. The US consumes 1.9 million metric tons, and produces 1.2 million metric tons. Probably doesn’t include all of the electronics and other goods that are produced elsewhere, but used here. There is a shortage of copper https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/07/there-isnt-enough-copper-in-the-world-shortage-could-last-until-2030.html#

I guess we can pillage other countries to satisfy our want.

LetsBeStupidForASec

11mo

There’s no shortage.

I lived in Queenstown Tasmania where one of the world’s largest copper ore bodies (Mt Lyell) sits in care and maintenance (just dewatering the mine) because it’s not profitable to mine it.

Mining copper in a first world country is head up the ass stupid in most cases. You can’t compete with slave labor in Indonesia at Freeport-McMoron.

Fucking up the porcupine mountains so a couple twats can scam the state government is fucked in the face.

Hamblin113

11mo

Interesting perspective, Freeport-McMoron have several mine’s operating in Arizona, if you ever read how they became a mining giant would make you sick.

Research has to be done on the actual impacts of the mine, I trust Michigan DNR over some posters claims it will impact all of Lake Superior, how many mines are already operating around the lake? Copper mines have been active for over 150 years in the area. Is it a chicken little concern, or is it real? I don’t know and am not an expert, to pawn it off on another country with less oversight does not seem the wisest, it would be the same as putting the mine in Michigan without review.

LetsBeStupidForASec

11mo

Pretty much every mining company is a piece of shit. Glencore, Rio Tinto, BHP, Vale. All shitheads.

I don’t know exactly how that mine is planned, but I do see “surface rights” on the lease, which is a bad sign. It’s typically the reprocessing of ores that fucks everything up. Queenie ships powder to India now to fuck up their environment, instead of smelting it there. Smelting can be fine if you capture the sulfur and make it into acid to sell, which actually makes more money, but it’s more investment.

I’m not assuming this mine is destructive, but I don’t trust mining giants, and I disagree that we need more copper mines. There’s plenty of ore. They just want to get away with getting it for the lowest price possible and don’t care about environmental damage.

drager85

11mo

Then why even have natural areas? Just mine the whole fucking country and call it a day. Who needs nature when we can have shitty electronics that break in a month. Orrrrrr we could leave the area alone and use less copper and let our future children experience what we get to today.

Yoopermetal

11mo

Have you ever seen a lithium mine for the E vehicle scam?

Yoopermetal

-4

11mo

I’m all for it. Zero threat to the environment

redisherfavecolor

11mo

You don’t live there. I grew up right there. Ive hiked that area. I’ve swum in Lake Superior in June.

Fuck you.

Yoopermetal

11mo

I do.

NomadGuitar

11mo

Acid mine drainage ain't real, I guess? Despite loads of concrete examples (every sulfide mine ever). Please explain how there is zero threat.

Yoopermetal

-1

11mo

You said copper sulfide. Which isn’t classified as a dangerous substance. Other mines with different stuff sure. I was just commenting on your particular substance. The natural orange Ontonagon river has lots of it.

Mindless-Bite-3539

11mo

Oh HELL no. Signed. The stretch from black river harbor to lake of the clouds is my favorite piece of wilderness in this country, this feels like a kick in the gut.

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