MADISON, WI (AP)-- The state Department of Natural Resources is outlining the steps a company looking to dig a huge iron mine in far northwestern Wisconsin will need to take bulk mineral samples.
Gogebic Taconite wants to dig a 4½-mile long open-pit iron mine in the Penokee Hills east of Mellen. The company submitted a plan to the DNR earlier this month that calls for the removal of 4,000 tons of rock from five sites for sampling.
Larry Lynch is the DNR's mine project manager. He said in a statement Wednesday the company will need to get a storm water permit, file a claim of exemption from air permitting, file tree cutting permits and file a bond for reclamation.
Gogebic Taconite applied for the storm water permit last week.