Interesting development being reported by the Detroit News according to USGS estimates the Southern & SW shore of Lake Superior may contain more Nickel than Russia or Canada. Other precious metals have been discovered or are in the process of either being litigated like the Black 40 gold mine just north of Mauminee or are getting ready to start production such as the Copperwood Project near Ironwood. There is a likelihood of rare earth minerals as well such as manganese, cobalt & possibly lithium.
Besides the Back 40 gold mine which is tied up in court due to the potential contamination of the Mauminee River & Lake Michigan with arsenic seems a terrible idea. However if operated with high safety & environmental standards like the Eagle River mine has (America’s only Nickel mine) prospects of producing needed materials domestically and in the same geographic area that drove Detroit’s last auto boom are intriguing.
Not only would this be adding in another factor solidifying Detroit’s position as the place to be for the future of EV but the prospect of lithium so close to the already in place structural components for high tech industry here it would give Michigan a boost in the race for domestic chip manufacturing. There was a recent attempt to start a lithium mine in the eastern UP but the drilling results were disappointing and the company chose a European location instead to build its mine.
The last thing I want to see is the last large scale wildernesses in the eastern US and one of the most beautiful and wild places in the country despoiled like the state was with the logging and mining industries in the 19th & early 20th century. Im a troll and city folk to boot I can imagine the calculation is more difficult for Yoopers the near death of mining in the UP has left large areas with high unemployment and it’s youth fleeing for better prospects down state or out of state. Not to mention that the tribes are only being just now being brought to the table and not necessarily as full partners, some communities like Mauminee felt the same.
If there are 5 undiscovered sources of nickel and technology along with supply chain issues are making mining feasible again such as in the White Pine copper and silver mine in Silver City I hope we make the right choices. Making sure communities have long term benefits after the ore runs out along with turning down projects however lucrative that will cause irreparable harm to what makes the state and UP so special.
*P.S.* To quote a political observer on the recent Albertan election campaign, when resource prices are high it provides for budget surpluses. Investments can be made in infrastructure, education, social services while lowering taxes. “It’s like political magic” If a resource boom does happen to pan out setting up a fund like the Norwegian government did for part of its oil reserves would be a great way to make sure all benefit instead of political bickering and games every time the volatile resource market fluctuates. Now I’ll get back to counting chickens before they hatch, but man if the grove of 500 year old plus cedars recently discovered on South Manitou Island is anything to go by the way we managed our resources in the past is shameful it would be nice to get another chance.
Quote:
States bordering Lake Superior could have as much nickel as Russia, Canada
The Detroit News
5–21-23
Riley Beggin
The Lake Superior region could be home to as much nickel as Russia or Canada, some of the largest nickel producers in the world, according to estimates by the United States Geological Survey. A mining company and federally funded researchers are now trying to determine whether Michigan could be a global mineral hub as part of separate hunts for undiscovered deposits that could help meet rising demand in the United States for battery-powered electric vehicles.
Talon Metals Corp. is citing USGS' estimates — which indicate potential for undiscovered nickel in northeast Minnesota, northern Wisconsin and the western Upper Peninsula — as it prepares to launch its exploration of 400,000 acres of the western U.P., and as it seeks exclusive rights to explore state-owned land in Baraga, Houghton, Iron, Ontonagon and Marquette counties. The company also is working to launch a nickel mine in northern Minnesota that would supply nickel for Tesla Inc. for the next six years.
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Nickel mining comes with environmental risks due to potential acid leaching from exposed ore, even as mining practices and oversight have improved since the U.P.'s mining heyday. But as international experts demand major near-term changes to prevent the most disastrous effects of climate change, environmental advocates are weighing their concerns.
"There's a critical need" to ensure sensitive wilderness areas and the Great Lakes aren't harmed by any future mining there, said Michigan Sierra Club Chapter chair Anne Woiwode. But she added that there is "no question" the country needs to move away from gas-powered cars, trucks and SUVs.
"One of the big questions to be faced is: How do we achieve the clean energy goals with and without destroying the environment?"
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There’s already an indicator that there’s nickel in the Upper Peninsula: It is home to the nation’s only nickel mine, Eagle, which is expected to close around 2026. Bitterroot Resources Ltd., another mining company, said it has also found more nickel nearby.
But Talon believes there’s likely even more, based in part on a USGS report from 1997 that showed similarities between the geology around Lake Superior and that found in major nickel-producing regions in Canada and Russia.
“Now they’ve doubled down and said there’s more to discover,” Goldner said. USGS researchers released a second analysis in 2016 that says there are likely five undiscovered deposits remaining in Michigan’s U.P. and two more in Minnesota.
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Using funding from USGS, Michigan Geological Survey researchers and geologists at Michigan Tech University are conducting aerial mapping over 200 square miles of the western U.P. They’re looking for differences in the earth’s surface that may indicate mineral content — something Yellich called a “geophysical signature.” When they identify a spot, they take a core sample of the rock and send it to USGS to analyze its contents.
USGS says there may be graphite, manganese, cobalt and lithium in the state — all used to build EV batteries — in addition to other critical minerals. Cobalt would likely be produced as a byproduct of nickel mining, said William Cannon, a Scientist Emeritus with USGS specializing in the Upper Peninsula. Lithium "might be kind of a longshot, but it's a possibility."
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