Owner of Gogebic site seeks options
Company and Iron County officials meet to discuss reviving mining plans
An owner of property in Iron and Ashland counties that was the site of a contentious proposal to mine iron ore is trying to resurrect plans for the mine, an Iron County economic development official said.
Officials of La Pointe Iron Co., one of the owners of the property that Gogebic Taconite unsuccessfully sought to develop as a massive open pit mine, met with local representatives in Hurley on Wednesday to discuss reviving the plans.
Kelly Klein, director of development for the Iron County Development Zone, said he and others met with La Pointe representatives, who told them they are eager to find another developer for the site.
The meeting was first reported in Woods Person, a blog that has closely followed mining developments in the region.
Klein said that La Pointe has not contracted with another mining company.
But he said the company has been studying historical mineral data from the site and is planning or has already started to examine data collected by Gogebic, including ore samples and water and wetlands data.
Klein also said that La Pointe discussed hiring its own outside experts to conduct additional fieldwork.
“I’m very happy about it,” said Klein, a vocal supporter of Gogebic’s plans. “Right now, we have a tourism and timber economy, and there’s nothing wrong with that, and I don’t think that we ever want to let that go, but we want to utilize our resources as best we can.”
Klein said representatives of La Pointe did not appear to be dissuaded by the glut of iron ore and current low iron prices. “This has the potential to be a decades-long project — it’s not a flash-in-the-pan plan,” he said.
Gogebic Taconite announced on Feb. 27 that it was dropping plans for a $1.5 billion iron ore mine, citing potential environmental problems.
The company had pressed Republican Gov. Scott Walker and the GOPcontrolled Legislature to rewrite mining laws that rolled back some protections connected to iron mining.
The legislation ignited the biggest environmental fight in Wisconsin in decades, with environmentalists saying the changes would harm streams and wetlands, but supporters saying the legislation would facilitate mining but not harm the environment.
In February, Gogebic officials said that fieldwork showed the site contained far more wetlands than previously thought, which would limit the scope of mining. They also raised concerns about whether the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would erect roadblocks to the project.
Gogebic announced plans in November 2010 for an iron ore mine with two pits plunging as deep as 1,000 feet and covering four miles. The project would have required approvals from the Department of Natural Resources and federal authorities.
Before it pulled up stakes, Gogebic altered its plans, saying it would build up to four, smaller open-pit iron ore mines as a way of limiting damage to wetlands.
Klein said he and others met with David Adams, president of La Pointe, David Meinecke, a vice president, and Paul Eger of Global Mineral Engineering of Hibbing, Minn.
The surface and mineral rights of the land are owned by LaPointe, based in Hibbing, Minn., and RGGS Land & Minerals Ltd. of Houston. La Pointe, RGGS and others have been marketing the mineral rights for years.
Gogebic purchased an option for the mineral rights of the land. Klein said the option would expire next month.
“Right now, we have a tourism and timber economy, and there’s nothing wrong with that, and I don’t think that we ever want to let that go, but we want to utilize our resources as best we can.” Kelly Klein, director of development for the Iron County Development Zone