On Saturday, I wrote about Michigan’s economic situation. Today, WaPo writes about various mining proposals in the U.P. Check it out.
Like much of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Marquette was built on mining. Thousands of Irish, German, Polish, Italian and other immigrants arrived here in the late 1800s and early 1900s to forge new lives in the copper and iron mines.As mines closed during the mid-1900s and many residents fled to the auto industry in Detroit, the town and the region struggled.
Now, thanks to rapidly rising metal prices, international mining companies are again interested in the Upper Peninsula. A subsidiary of industry giant Rio Tinto wants to open the country’s largest nickel mine about 25 miles from Marquette, and various companies are prospecting for copper, nickel, uranium and other materials.
One would think they would be welcomed with open arms.
Think again.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/02/AR2007040201406.html?nav=hcmodule