IRONWOOD, MI— The Gogebic County Board of Commissioners voted this week in support of $50 million in state funding for the proposed Copperwood Mine.
The grant to Canadian company Highland Copper was not approved last year by the Senate Appropriations Committee. It has effectively been in limbo since then.
The money would be used for the mine’s infrastructure.
Mine proponents say the project is expected to generate a total capital investment of $425 million and create 380 jobs.
Environmentalists, however, say the mine will destroy streams and wetlands and radically alter the hydrology of the site near Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park.
