GOGEBIC COUNTY, MI-- The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has issued a use permit to Copperwood Resources to resume test drilling in Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park.
Officials want to see if a mineral deposit first explored in the 1950s might feasibly be mined. Work is expected to be completed over the next month and a half. Copperwood wants to drill three test holes on DNR-managed land west of County Road 519. It will first need to obtain a wetlands permit from the Department of Environmental Quality.
Conditions of the use permit dictate drilling can only take place when the ground is frozen. Copperwood was recently fined $25,000 for drilling during a spring thaw a year ago. The activity damaged wetlands and produced mud holes.
The DNR will get daily updates on the current project. Officials say the exploration effort will be done in an area of the park already impacted by logging and a narrow-gauge railroad.
