Metallic Mineral Mining: The Process & the Price Metallic Mineral Mining: The Process & the Price

Prepared by the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission with funding from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Copyright © 2016 Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission

Graphic design by Catherine Lange

Suggested citation: “Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, 2016. Metallic Mineral Mining: The Process & the Price.”

Table of Contents

Introduction ...... 1 2 . From Raw Earth to Refined Metals: 3 . Mining and Its Effects on Water . . . 28 The Stages of the Metallic Mining • Hydrologic Changes: Acid Mine 1 . An Introduction to Process and their Effects on Drainage, Metals, Chemical Pollution, Metallic Mineral Mining and Surrounding Ecosystems ...... 12 and Water Quantity Tribal Land Interests in the • Exploration: The Challenge of Upper Great Lakes Region ...... 3 • Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) Exploring Under the Surface • Metals Contamination • Understanding the Definition of Ore • Development: Ecological Impacts of • Chemical, Sulfur, and Constructing a Mine • Native and European Metallic Thermal Pollution Mining in the Upper Great Lakes • Erosion and Sedimentation • Water Quantity Region • Hydrologic Changes • The Challenge of Containing • Understanding the Rights of Tribes • Contaminant Leaching and Aboriginal People in the Upper Mine Waste Great Lakes to Use the Land • Air Quality Impacts • Tailings • Mining’s Potential to Alter the • Carbon Footprint • Waste Rock Life Sustaining Resources of the • Transportation Effects • Restoring Hydrology Anishinaabeg • Milling: Reducing Boulders to Sand 4 . Cumulative Impacts of • Challenges of Mine Waste in a • Beneficiation: Transforming the Metallic Mining—Time, Complex Hydrologic Setting Milled Ore to Usable Metals Geography, and Community . . . . . 41 • Evaluating a Mine’s Potential Social, • Concentrating Economic, and Environmental • Metallurgical Beneficiation • Environmental Effects of Impacts More than One Mine • Beneficiation Byproducts and • Ensuring a Mine Can Clean Up the Environmental Impacts • Socioeconomic Issues and Impacts Damage • Reclamation: Deconstructing Mine Workings and Reclaiming the Mine Site

v vi Metallic Mining: The Process & the Price

5 . Mining’s Effects on 6 . Legal Landscape: An Overview Conclusion ...... 68 Anishinaabe Culture ...... 48 of Mining Law and Regulation . . . . 58 References ...... 69 • Ojibwe Spiritual Beliefs and • US Federal Laws and Regulations the Moral Dimensions of Land Related to Metallic Mining Glossary ...... 72 Stewardship • A Brief Overview of Mining • Mining and Its Effect on the Laws and Policies of Minnesota, Land: The Keweenaw Bay Indian Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ontario Community and the Eagle Mine • Wisconsin • Mining’s Disruptive Effects on • Michigan Resources and Practices Critical to • Minnesota Anishinaabe Culture • Ontario • Manoomin (Wild Rice) • The Role of Tribes and Aboriginal • Giigoonyag (Fish) Communities • Disruption to Sense of Place • Select Commonalities and Differences in the Mining Laws and Policies of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ontario • Environmental review • Water quality • Wetlands

Introduction

The development of a major mine entails a substantial and long-term alteration of the landscape and the natural environment. Mining, particularly metallic mining, also presents certain unavoidable ecological risks. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the metal mining industry is the largest source of chemicals to the environment in the United States, and history is replete with examples of mine-related pollution. The EPA’s Abandoned Mine Lands program currently lists 130 mine sites as having known or threatened releases of hazardous pollutants or contaminants. Mining disasters are not limited to distant history; since 2014, catastrophic collapses of metallic mine tailings ponds have occurred in British Columbia and in Brazil, sending contaminated effluent Point Abbaye, Michigan on Lake Superior’s south shore. into waterways and, in the case of Brazil, costing many human lives. Not all mines will cause the severe harm that some past mines have, and some of the ecological threats can be 1 2 Metallic Mineral Mining: The Process & the Price mitigated. Nevertheless, the decision to and illustrating those risks through real- Mineral Mining: The Process and the Price allow a metallic mineral mine reflects an life examples. It provides a brief overview is informed by that perspective. While acceptance of some degree of ecological of the laws and regulations related to this document uses a variety of terms in harm, the extent of which can never mine permitting and environmental reference to Indian people (including tribe, be absolutely known or predicted with review, including US federal law and the tribal, Indian, Anishinaabe), it is intended precision. The true price that will be paid laws of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, only to reflect the beliefs and views that for a mine’s anticipated benefits becomes and the Canadian province of Ontario. It GLIFWC has come to understand in clear only if or when the theoretical risks also describes how tribal treaty-reserved the course of serving its member tribes. manifest in environmental degradation. rights and an Anishinaabe worldview can In addition, this document refers to For Indian and Aboriginal people and intersect those laws. Most importantly, Ojibwe tribes in several ways. Ojibwe/ communities in the Upper Great Lakes this document explains why the risks Ojibwa tribes have come to be known region, the price of metallic mining can associated with mining pose special as Chippewa in English; in Canada, the be particularly devastating. Tribes rely on threats to Indian people who rely on the Ojibwe/Ojibwa are known as First Nations natural resources like fish, wildlife, and natural world to sustain their communities rather than tribes. Anishinaabe or its wild plants for subsistence and to support and whose culture and lifeways depend them spiritually, culturally, medicinally, on access to clean and healthy natural plural, Anishinaabeg, are the Ojibwe words and economically. When mining affects resources. for Indian(s), or original person (people), the health and availability of resources Finally, it must be noted that this which are their names for themselves. that native people depend on for these document has been produced by the Despite the limits described herein, purposes, their ways of life and their Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife for other tribes that may be similarly ability to sustain healthy communities is Commission (GLIFWC), a natural situated or share a skepticism about also affected. resource agency representing 11 Ojibwe the potential price they may pay for Metallic Mineral Mining: The Process tribes in Michigan, Minnesota, and mineral development in areas they use to and the Price provides an overview of Wisconsin as they implement their off- exercise their lifeways and sustain their metallic mining by describing its stages reservation, treaty-reserved hunting, communities, we hope this document may and their associated environmental risks fishing and gathering rights. Metallic be helpful. An Introduction to Metallic Mineral Mining 1. and Tribal Land Interests in the Upper Great Lakes Region

valuable than iron, the definition of ore Mining is the process by which target is different. At the closed Flambeau mine materials are extracted from the earth. near Ladysmith, Wisconsin, for example, Metallic mining refers to the extraction the ore averaged about 9.5% copper, of both ferrous metals (typically iron) a concentration that was more than and nonferrous metals (including gold, sufficient to profitably extract. Sometimes silver, copper, nickel, lead, and zinc). Many an ore body contains more than one target of these metals are common elements mineral, and the combination alters the in the earth’s crust but usually exist only economic equation. While the massive as components of other minerals and in portion of the ore body of the Back Forty minute quantities. Iron, for example, is Comparison of a disseminated copper ore (left) and a piece of native copper (right). Disseminated ore bodies site near Stephenson, Michigan contains the most plentiful of these elements but have a small amount of metallic mineral by volume. accounts for only about 5% of the world’s only 0.44% copper, the ore body also crust by weight. Copper accounts for only Understanding contains an 8% concentration of zinc, 0.0058%, and lead and zinc account for increasing the overall economic viability even less. Because of the rare geological the Definition of Ore of the deposit. occurrence of these metals, they must be Ore is defined by economics: a geologic When prices and demand are high, found in relatively high concentrations in formation is considered an ore body if it lower-grade deposits become more order for mining to be economical. contains minerals in sufficient quantity economically feasible to extract. The to profitably mine. The definition of proposed NorthMet mine in Minnesota, When prices and demand for metal is ore changes depending on the target for example, has a disseminated ore body high, lower-grade deposits become more mineral. High-grade iron ore has an containing 0.28% copper, 0.08% nickel, economically feasible to extract. iron concentration of 60%, while lower- and trace amounts of other precious grade taconite ore mined in the upper metals. Despite the relatively low grade of Great Lakes region has a concentration this deposit, the mine operator, PolyMet, of 25% to 30%. For copper, a metal more has applied for permits to mine at this site. 3 4 Metallic Mineral Mining: The Process & the Price

Metallic mineral mining refers to the the surface and along the shore of Lake Understanding the Rights extraction of both ferrous and nonferrous Superior. Native people heated the copper metals. Sulfide mining is a term often used and shaped it into jewelry and tools such of Tribes and Aboriginal to describe the mining of nonferrous as knives and spear points; the copper People in the Upper Great metals, including copper, lead, zinc, and required no further processing because it Lakes to Use the Land others, because these metals frequently was pure and not bound to other elements. are bonded to sulfur, forming sulfide As with silver and gold found in other Prior to contact with European settlers compounds. But it is misleading to place areas of the western hemisphere, the and foreign governments, tribes exercised only these types of metal mining under copper used in the Great Lakes region by their sovereignty both internally, by the sulfide description because various Indian peoples was primarily ceremonial establishing their own governing systems, forms of sulfide also are found in ferrous and aesthetic. Great Lakes copper was also and externally, by forming alliances with (iron) mining. In the upper Great Lakes traded throughout North America. other tribal nations. Anishinaabe tribes in region, for example, iron deposits often the upper Great Lakes entered into their exist within and adjacent to geologic The ability of tribes to exercise their first treaty with the Spirit of the Universe. formations that contain sulfur and treaty-reserved rights, both on and off their This Great Law of Nature holds that the sulfides. Ferrous mining can result in reservation land, can be profoundly impacted land is a gift from the Creator and the disturbance of the adjacent rock and thus by mining activities. Anishinaabeg are to live in harmony mobilize sulfur. Minnesota’s Iron Range with and take care of that land through is a prominent example of this effect: as Intensive commercial exploitation of ceremonies, teachings, language, and the the target iron ore is mined, the tailings native copper and high-grade iron ores way they live their lives, or their lifeway. basins and pit lakes left behind produce began with the arrival of European miners The United States and Canadian sulfur compounds that impact surface and in the second half of the nineteenth governments, upon their arrival in North groundwater throughout the Iron Range. century. By the middle of the twentieth America, recognized the sovereignty of the century, the high-grade ores of the Great Anishinaabe tribes and dealt with them on Native and European Lakes region had been depleted. Today, the a government-to-government basis. In the Metallic Mining in the only potential sources of copper and other early and mid-nineteenth century, various Upper Great Lakes Region metals in the area are lower quality ores. treaties were signed between the US and Mining remains an important issue to Canadian governments and Anishinaabe Metallic mining in the Great Lakes region tribes in the region, some of whom retain tribes in northern Wisconsin, northeastern is not a new phenomenon. As far back as legal rights to use the land. The ability of Minnesota, and northern Michigan as well 4,000 B.C., indigenous people throughout tribes to exercise their treaty-reserved as in the Canadian province of Ontario. the area used copper for jewelry and rights, both on and off their reservation Courts have ruled that in the treaties, other articles. Much of this copper was land, can be profoundly impacted by the Ojibwe sold or ceded a considerable easily accessed from formations found at mining activities. amount of land to the federal government An Introduction to Metallic Mineral Mining and Tribal Land Interests in the Upper Great Lakes Region 5

Treaty Ceded Territories in the Lake Superior Watershed

Treaty 9, 1905 Treaty 3, 1873 Robinson - Superior Treaty, 1850

Treaty With the Chippewa,1854

Treaty With the Robinson Huron Chippewa Treaty, 1850 1855 !( !( Treaty With the Chippewa Treaty With the Ottawa 1842 1836

Ceded Territory/Treaty Area Boundary Treaty With the Chippewa 1837 Tribal / First Nation Land

State!( / Provincial Boundary Lake Superior Watershed

Ceded Territory, Treaty, and Tribal land boundaries are 0 25 50 100 Miles representations and may not be the actual legally binding boundaries.

Areas ceded by tribes in the western Great Lakes region. 6 Metallic Mineral Mining: The Process & the Price

reserves (or reservations) for individual management of those resources. Land use decisions that put mining interests First Nations. In carrying out these management before native interests may violate legal For tribes and First Nations in both responsibilities, tribes work to assure the guarantees and undermine the tribes’ abilities the US and Canada, their status as continued quantity and quality of natural to sustain their communities in ways that are sovereigns, recognized in treaties and resources. Tribes also coordinate the consistent with their teachings and worldview. upheld by courts, provides the basis exercise of sovereignty and management for their right to maintain themselves with other governments exercising but did not give up all rights of usage. as distinct cultural and self-governing concurrent authority in the ceded These lands often are referred to as ceded entities. Their sovereignty and authority territories. Land use decisions that put territory. (See map on page 5.) Within over their reservations and exercise of mining interests before native interests the ceded territories, the signatory tribes treaty-reserved rights carries particular may violate these legal guarantees reserved the right to continue to hunt, fish, responsibilities, including the proper and undermine the tribes’ abilities to and gather on the land. Modern state and federal court decisions have affirmed these rights as valid and continuing. The Ojibwe rights to hunt, fish, and gather on ceded territory lands are called treaty rights, usufructuary rights, or reserved rights. Tribes also have reservations within the ceded territory. Tribes have more extensive rights to control activities on their reservation land than in ceded territory, but the establishment of reservations did not limit or curtail their reserved rights to hunt, fish, and gather off the reservation on lands within the ceded territory. Similarly, Canadian Ojibwe First Nations in the Lake Superior region signed treaties with the government of Canada in which they ceded land but retained the right to hunt and fish in the territory ceded. The treaties that created the ceded territory in the Ontario portion of the Lake Superior basin also provided for Extensive landscape alteration at the Hull-Rust mine in Minnesota. An Introduction to Metallic Mineral Mining and Tribal Land Interests in the Upper Great Lakes Region 7 sustain their communities in ways that are consistent with their teachings and worldview. (Chapter 5 provides a more detailed look at Anishinaabe lifeways.) Mining’s Potential to Alter the Life Sustaining Resources of the Anishinaabeg The ability to practice their lifeways on reservation land and in ceded territories is fundamental to Anishinaabeg survival as distinct cultural and political entities. Healthy natural resources sustain the lifeways of Indian people who depend on them for spiritual, cultural, medicinal, subsistence, and economic purposes. Mining puts the land and these natural resources at risk. All mining activity will affect air, water, soil, and living organisms. Some mining Undersized sedimentation basin along a mine haul road. The sediment will need to be removed for the basin to impacts are less severe than others, and work as intended. some can be prevented or mitigated. But any mining project necessarily Given these inevitable impacts, state Mine operators often attempt to reduce involves a degree of environmental and federal regulators in ceded territories the environmental impact of their projects disturbance that can never be exactly must determine what levels of pollution through mitigation measures including air predicted. And while any type of mining are acceptable or allowable under various and water capture and treatment systems, alters the natural landscape and produces permits. Tribes generally do not set sedimentation basins, and wetland mining waste, metallic mining poses regulatory standards in ceded territories; mitigation activities. When mitigation environmental risks that are especially thus, they may be concerned that other measures are insufficient or fail, however, acute due to the tremendous scale of governments will not adequately consider the resulting destruction of natural some metallic mines and the geochemical their worldview or reliance on natural resources can profoundly affect the native characteristics of the target minerals, ore resources when setting applicable people who rely on them. For Anishinaabe body, and surrounding rock. standards. people, harvesting natural resources is 8 Metallic Mineral Mining: The Process & the Price

Anishinaabe people are very cautious when making decisions that may affect the health or availability of natural resources; their worldview holds that decisions must ensure the protection of the resources for the next seven generations. Negative consequences that occur within 250 years would fail this cultural standard. more than just a means to provide food. Hunting and gathering are cultural and spiritual activities that renew both the person and the harvested resource. Anishinaabe people are very cautious when making decisions that may affect the health or availability of these resources; their worldview holds that decisions must ensure the protection of the resources for the next seven generations. Negative consequences that occur within 250 years would fail this cultural standard. Access portal for the Eagle mine is drilled into the base of Eagle Rock, a sacred site to tribal people. For tribal communities, reservation (photo courtesy of Chauncey Moran) lands and land in ceded territories provide lands, or the contamination of water, air, traditional Anishinaabe ways of life and the environment needed to practice or soil. In addition, the economic value tribes’ existence as a culturally distinct their culture, traditions, and sustain of resources harvested by tribal members people. This perspective was expressed by their ways of life. On these lands, mining may be lost. Susan J. LaFernier of the Keweenaw Bay can affect fundamental aspects of tribal The impact of mining on tribes goes Indian Community to help explain the life and culture in a number of ways. far beyond the ability of tribal members deep concern or opposition many tribal Tribal members may lose opportunities to find appropriate fish and wildlife to members have toward mining: to use and harvest resources due to serve as meals or ceremonial feasts. Tribal the destruction of fish, wildlife, and culture itself suffers when natural resource ...[metallic mining] gains are far plant habitats, the disruption of wildlife usage patterns are altered, disrupted, outweighed by the potential for migration patterns, the closure of public or destroyed. Mining can threaten permanent and severe damage to the An Introduction to Metallic Mineral Mining and Tribal Land Interests in the Upper Great Lakes Region 9

environment in and around the Tribe’s sufficient baseline data and incomplete territory along with the human health understanding of local hydrological risks associated from certain mining processes. related contamination for our genera­tion Understanding how and why past and generations to come. The preserva­ mining operations failed to protect water tion of our land, our culture, and our quality is particularly important in the way of life require that we act now as Lake Superior basin because of its complex guardians for the next seven generations hydrology. Numerous lakes, wetlands, and mining will be the single greatest and rivers are interconnected by complex groundwater systems. These groundwater threat to our water and lands in our systems in turn connect through different life­time along with all of the other Rivers, lakes, and wetlands interconnected by shallow groundwater systems are common in the Great Lakes layers of glacial materials in the shallow challenges. As Ojibwa (Nature’s) people, region. (photo courtesy of Chauncey Moran) aquifer, as well as in fractures and faults in we are a part of Lake Superior and the the bedrock. land, and our survival depends on both. Challenges of Mine The abundance of interconnected We all need to share the responsibility Waste in a Complex water systems in the Lake Superior basin and privilege to care for our Earth and Hydrologic Setting significantly increases the risks associated not make any more environmental with metallic mining. Multiple interacting ‘mistakes.’ Predicting a mine’s environmental water systems lead to uncertainty in impacts involves an extensive process of Mining can pose significantly predicting how pollutants will behave site-specific research and complex data within them and the adequacy of pollution different risks to tribes than to other gathering and analysis. For regulators control measures. An abundance of water natural resources users because of tribes’ to reach a decision about whether to also makes it more likely that pollutants dependence on healthy natural resources. allow a mining project, the potential will contaminate the water and less likely But despite being uniquely affected by environmental consequences of a that pollution controls will be completely mine permitting decisions, tribes are not proposed project must be accurately effective. Finally, the Lake Superior often the decision makers. In determining described and fully understood. Impacts region is one of climate extremes. A where and to what extent mining is such as the project’s effects on water mine’s tailings basins, caps and liners, and quality can be difficult (although not stockpiles must be designed to withstand allowed in any geographical area, state impossible) to predict; historically, a a number of challenges, including and federal decision makers bear a special majority of mine projects have failed temperature changes, heavy rain and responsibility to ensure tribal lifeways are to accurately predict the water quality snow, freezing and thawing soils, as well as respected and protected. issues that ultimately occurred. Many of future climate change effects that are not these failures were caused by a lack of yet fully understood. 10 Metallic Mineral Mining: The Process & the Price

To prevent pollution of ecosystems near mining sites, mining wastes must often be permanently isolated from the environment. This isolation is extremely difficult and efforts to do so have failed at many mines. Two reasons can be cited Wild rice Wild rice winnowing. harvest. for these failures. Current technology for managing mine waste is constantly Evaluating a Mine’s natural resources but about the resources evolving and no method has been in Potential Social, Economic, themselves and their appropriate use long enough to completely prove management. Any permitting process itself. Research on how to prevent or and Environmental Impacts must afford tribes the opportunity to fully mitigate acid mine drainage and pollutant Generally, before mining begins, decision participate; only in this way can potential leaching is ongoing; new metallic makers must conduct a comprehensive impacts be properly understood and mining operations in the western Lake analysis of environmental and other evaluated from a tribal perspective. Superior region would only be the effects of the proposal. Sound public The process of predicting, describing, and evaluating potential impacts in the testing grounds for these technologies. policy can only be made by recognizing the nature of the environmental threats US generally requires the development Second, the effectiveness of any mine’s and by understanding that science and pollution control technology depends technology cannot always predict or repair When a project affects treaty or trust on a number of factors, including the all of mining’s impacts. resources, whether on or off reservation, unique characteristics of its operation, Additionally, there are treaties, tribes’ concerns must be considered during the the characteristics of the ore, and the legislation, and judicial decisions that environmental review process. environmental characteristics of the site. guarantee tribal rights. Any mine Every mine is unique, and every mine’s permitting process must give full weight to of an Environmental Assessment (EA) or pollution control plan must be specifically how the mine would affect Indian tribes. the more comprehensive Environmental designed for those characteristics. For those impacts to be fully understood, Impact Statement (EIS). In Canada, this decision makers should explore the type of review is required in some but (Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 discuss many traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) not all cases. The environmental review of the potential impacts of metallic held by tribal members. Traditional process in the US involves an analysis mineral mining.) ecological knowledge stems from centuries of the direct, indirect, and cumulative of living in close connection to the land. environmental consequences of the It provides critical information not just proposed action as well as a discussion about tribes and their relationship to An Introduction to Metallic Mineral Mining and Tribal Land Interests in the Upper Great Lakes Region 11 of any alternatives to the action. The EA Ensuring a Mine Can instruments include surety bonds and and EIS processes also examine a mine’s Clean Up the Damage insurance. Mining companies might also potential socioeconomic impacts on the propose a self-guarantee for financial human environment. (Chapter 4 describes When a decision is made to move assurance. If a mining company goes issues related to mining’s socioeconomic forward with mining activities, a mine bankrupt, however, a self-guarantee holds impacts; see Chapter 6 for a fuller operator must provide some form of little promise because the money can be description of the environmental review financial assurance to ensure the mine distributed to other creditors instead of and permitting processes.) site is reclaimed properly when the paying for clean-up activities. When a project affects treaty or trust mine stops operating. The amount of Because closure and reclamation costs resources, whether on or off reservation, are based on a prediction of the mine’s tribes’ concerns must be considered during Because closure and reclamation costs are impacts, an accurate cost estimate requires the environmental review process. The based on a prediction of the mine’s impacts, a detailed closure and reclamation plan. review process may also trigger various an accurate cost estimate requires a detailed High-quality predictions of impacts are closure and reclamation plan. High-quality pieces of federal legislation, depending critical: if impacts are missed, or their predictions of impacts are critical: if impacts on the project’s expected impacts. Some severity is underestimated, the amount of are missed, or their severity is underestimated, of the federal acts include the National financial assurance will be insufficient to the amount of financial assurance will be Historic Preservation Act, the American insufficient to cover the costs. cover the costs. Underestimating a mine’s Indian Religious Freedom Act, and the impact on water quality, for example, may Native American Graves Protection and financial assurance differs for each project mean the financial assurance is insufficient Repatriation Act of 1990. and is based on estimated closure and to pay for a water treatment facility after Predicting a mine’s impacts on the reclamation costs; the primary goal is to the mine closes. All of these uncertainties surrounding environment is a complex ensure taxpayers are not left to pay for combine to make financial assurance a undertaking. If data is incomplete or them. Unfortunately, financial assurance vital topic in planning for mining. insufficient, the environmental review amounts often are based on predicted process and the resulting EA or EIS impacts, meaning they can fail to cover can underestimate or mischaracterize the costs of fixing or remediating those environmental impacts. Accurately problems that were not predicted. estimating the environmental price Several forms of financial assurance of mining is essential to meeting can be used for mining projects. The most environmental review requirements and secure is cash or an equivalent financial making informed decisions. instrument that will provide funds even if the mining company declares bankruptcy. Less desirable financial assurance From Raw Earth to Refined Metals: 2. The Stages of the Metallic Mining Process and Their Effects on Surrounding Ecosystems

Exploratory drilling penetrates different rom inception through closure, a F geologic layers and may cause water from mine goes through several stages of different aquifers to mix, thereby changing development, each with its own impacts the water’s chemistry. It can also cause water on the environment and local ecosystems. elevations within an aquifer to change, The various stages affect ecosystems, causing wells to go dry. habitats, and the quality and quantity of natural resources that live there. In the exploration phase a mining Exploration: company conducts field explorations, core drilling, metallurgical bulk sampling and Taconite pellets. The Challenge of Exploring testing, and other studies. In addition to Under the Surface The mine operator also has to consider determining the economic viability of the deposit, one of the goals of the exploration A mine operator typically explores a the costs of returning the mine site to a potential site to determine whether it pre-mine condition after the deposit is phase is to establish the geometry of the wants to move forward with a mining exhausted and mining ends. ore body and whether it is amenable to operation. A key question during The map on the next page shows processing. The information also helps exploration is whether the deposit areas of historic and current mineral determine the economic potential of the contains minerals in a high enough exploration throughout the Lake Superior ore body and whether it is suitable for concentration to make it economically basin. The map also depicts areas that have underground or open pit mining. viable to extract them. A mine operator been identified as having potential for The standards by which an ore body weighs many criteria, not only how much mineral development. While it is unlikely is judged suitable for mining can vary target mineral the deposit contains but that many of these deposits will become over time. When high-grade iron ore was also the mineral’s quality (grade) and operating mines, the fact that exploration plentiful, taconite (a low-grade iron ore) the cost of removing it in a manner that is occurring indicates that those areas have was not mined because it was considered a safeguards the surrounding ecosystem. the potential to be developed. waste rock. But as the supply of ­high-grade 12 From Raw Earth to Refined Metals: The Stages of the Metallic Mining Process and their Effects on Surrounding Ecosystems 13

Mines, Mineral Exploration and Mineral Mining Committee Leasing in the Lake Superior Watershed *# *# µ Date:November 18, 2015 *# Premier Gold Exploration *# 010 20 40 60 80 *# Greenstone Gold Exploration Miles *#*# *# *#*# *#*# *# *# » Operating Mine *# *#*# *# *# *# Mineral Exploration Stillwater Exploration *# # Rivers * *# *# Lac des Iles Palladium Mine *# Lakes » *# Harte Gold Exploration *#*# *# *# *# *# *# *# *# Area of Concern *# *# *# »» *# *# *# *# Barrick Hemlo Gold Mine Nipigon Bay Peninsula Lake Superior Watersheds *# *# Jackfish Bay Island and Magino Gold Mines with Mining Activity *# Harbor *#» Gold and Platinum Group *# Elements Exploration Mishi Gold Mine Lake Superior Watersheds *#*# » *# » *# Thunder Bay Proposed Polymet Copper, Nickel Mine *# Wesdome Gold Mines Anishinaabeg - Gichigami Mesabi Nugget Lake Superior Potential Twin Metals Copper Mine *#*# *# MINNTAC Mine *# Highland Copper *# Exploration *# Potential Dunka Copper, Nickel Mine *#*# *# *# Magnetation *# » » Gold and Uranium Exploration » » Minorca Steel *# »» *# » » » Northshore Mine Torch Lake United Taconite *# *# Hibbing Taconite *#*# Lundin Eagle Copper Mine St. Marys White Pine Mine # River *#* Keewatin Taconite *# *# *# » *#*# St. Louis Bay/River Highland Copper *# *# Copperwood *# *#*# Essar Minnesota Steel *# *# *# *#*# *# Empire and Tilden Mines *# *# Humboldt Mill Penokee Taconite Area

Locations of operating mines and areas of recent mineral exploration in and around the Lake Superior basin. 14 Metallic Mineral Mining: The Process & the Price

iron ore decreased, the mining industry began to view taconite as a potential resource. This changing attitude is important in the Lake Superior region because taconite is found extensively in the iron ranges of Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Once taconite ore is removed from the ground, the mining company concentrates it into pellets slightly smaller than a marble. The pellets Dril rig operator at the PolyMet potential mine site in Drilling operation at the Bend deposit in Wisconsin. (also called taconite) are a concentrated Minnesota displaying a piece of core. iron product, more economical to transport and process into finished goods. A mine operator also must consider the potential threats exploration activities pose to the surrounding ecosystem. Exploratory drilling penetrates different geologic layers and may cause water from different aquifers to mix, thereby changing the water’s chemistry. It can also cause water elevations within an aquifer to change, causing wells to go dry. Another potential threat in the exploration phase is drilling sludge, the material brought to the surface during drilling. Drilling sludge, also known as drill cuttings, can contain sulfide ore, heavy metals, and other contaminants, and it can contaminate surface waters when not disposed of properly. The exploration phase also causes land to be disturbed by road and drill pad building and by heavy equipment use. A mining haul road constructed after the Eagle mine was permitted in Michigan. These activities can introduce invasive From Raw Earth to Refined Metals: The Stages of the Metallic Mining Process and their Effects on Surrounding Ecosystems 15

(At far left) Waste rock stockpile at the Humboldt Mill in Michigan.

(Near left) Satellite image of the U.S. Steel MiNNTAC tailings basin. This facility is approximately 16 square miles in size.

species and compact soils, resulting in Developing an open pit or Tailings are the byproducts of processing greater surface run-off. underground metallic mine generates left over after a mine removes and refines large amounts of waste rock and ore the target minerals. For all mine and Development: processing byproducts. Waste rock is ore types, the lower the ore grade, Ecological Impacts made up of the soil, rock, and non-target the more tailings are produced. of Constructing a Mine materials a mining company must remove to reach and excavate the ore that lies Tailings are the byproducts of When a proposed mine has cleared all under the surface. The amount of waste processing left over after a mine removes permitting hurdles, the mining company rock a mine generates depends on the and refines the target minerals. A can begin development and start turning location and depth of the ore body. Often typical mining operation generates an the land into a working mine. Mines a mine can use some of the waste rock extraordinary volume of tailings compared are either developed underground or, in other parts of the mine operation, but to the amount of usable mineral it extracts, more commonly, as an open pit, but their rarely can a mine utilize all of it. Thus, because even ore considered high mineral purpose is the same: to bring to the surface when a mine closes, it typically leaves content has a mineral concentration that is what was formerly underground. behind large stockpiles of waste rock. quite low. A taconite facility that mines 16 Metallic Mineral Mining: The Process & the Price

24 million tons of ore in a year will typically generate 16 million tons of tailings for every 8 million tons of pellets. In a typical copper mine, the ratio of tailings to usable mineral is far higher: each ton of ore yields only about eight to ten pounds of copper, meaning a copper mine produces about 1,990 pounds of tailings for every 10 pounds of copper it produces. For all mine and ore types, the lower the ore grade, the more tailings are produced. Mine development affects local ecosystems in a myriad of ways: Erosion and Sedimentation Developing a mine necessarily involves a dramatic reshaping of the land, exposing it to erosion by disturbing its natural contours and form. Steep slopes often formed by mining operations may erode Taconite mine pit and pit lake in the Mesabi Range of Minnesota. when rain washes the soil downhill. When the rain carries those soil fragments into nearby waterways, sedimentation occurs. contamination. (Chapter 3 provides a pulling in water from the surrounding Sedimentation presents a multitude of more detailed discussion of acid mine area. In a process called dewatering, ecological risks. In lakes and streams, drainage and its effects on ecosystems.) water is pumped out continuously until mining is finished and the mine closes. A sedimentation can cover and kill Hydrologic Changes vegetation and invertebrates; it can cover consequence of continuously removing fish spawning grounds as well as introduce Because any pit or shaft constructed below this groundwater is that it can lower water contaminants into the environment. When the water table accumulates groundwater, levels in the surrounding area, causing sediments from mine development are a mine developer must pump the water what is known as a cone of depression. acidic or contain heavy metals, they pose out of a mine before it can remove If the groundwater is linked to rivers or threats similar to those caused by acid ore. Whether the mine is open pit or lakes, removing it from the mine pit will mine drainage (AMD) and heavy metal underground, it acts as a giant well by not only lower water levels in nearby wells From Raw Earth to Refined Metals: The Stages of the Metallic Mining Process and their Effects on Surrounding Ecosystems 17

including hydrology changes, aerial deposition of reactive dust, and the fragmentation of animal habitats. The removal of these wetlands to construct mine pits would reduce the habitat of a number of species, including moose who use them in summer as a refuge from hot temperatures. Finally, the surrounding surface waters and groundwater aquifers likely would be affected due to the interconnection between aquifers, surface waters, and the holes that mine pits create in the landscape. Contaminant Leaching To get to the subsurface ore, a mine operator must dig open or underground pits. When mining operations end, these large pits are sometimes backfilled to add stability and prevent the remaining rock from being exposed to air and water. High-quality wetland complex in the ceded territory. When not carried out properly, however, backfilling can cause negative impacts. proposed NorthMet mine in Minnesota but can also lower surface water levels. Backfill often consists of waste rock and The extent of the cone of depression and provides a good illustration of the ripple tailings made from the ground rock and the extent of its impact on surface water effect mining development can have in process effluents used in the concentrating depends greatly on the area’s hydrology wetland areas. The NorthMet mine would process. If the backfill contacts water and and geology. be located within the Hundred Mile escapes from the mine’s underground The location of a metallic mine Swamp, an area of high-quality wetlands workings or pits, surface and groundwater dictates the nature and severity of its with excellent biodiversity. The project can be contaminated. hydrologic threats. If an ore body is mined would fill approximately 1,000 acres in Some mine projects, however, opt to near interconnected lakes, streams, and this wetland complex. Thousands more leave behind a lake that is formed when wetlands, the water itself can transport acres could be indirectly impacted by groundwater re-floods the mine pit. pollutants throughout the system. The a combination of mine-related effects The operators of the NorthMet mine in 18 Metallic Mineral Mining: The Process & the Price

Tailings ponds of the Empire Iron mine in Michigan. Lake Superior is visible in the background. (photo courtesy of Chauncey Moran)

Minnesota propose to leave behind such are exposed to air and water, both have the a pit lake. The danger of these lakes is potential to generate acid mine drainage that the water can be contaminated and and release metals into the surrounding dangerous to wildlife. Compounding the environment. Tailings can contain heavy risk of a contaminated lake is the danger metals, chemicals, and acid-generating that the water will overflow at the surface sulfur compounds, all of which are toxic or seep into the groundwater, thereby spreading the contaminated water beyond to the environment in varying degrees, the mine site. and waste rock may contain radioactive Sulfur-bearing waste rock and tailings materials. (Chapter 3 provides a more Acid rock srainage from the Buck and Dover Iron Mines that are disposed of above ground present complete discussion of issues surrounding in Michigan. another type of ecological threat. If they waste rock and tailings.) From Raw Earth to Refined Metals: The Stages of the Metallic Mining Process and their Effects on Surrounding Ecosystems 19

Air Quality Impacts economically feasible to ship it to facilities Mine development can also impact air in Canada for further concentration and quality. When rock is excavated, crushed, smelting. and transported to the surface, it can When new transportation corridors release contaminants into the air. Dust and improvements are constructed to generated by mining contains particulates transport ore, they can have significant that may affect human and animal impacts on the environment through health if inhaled and contain pollutants deposition of ore dust that escapes which can contaminate soil, water, and from trucks and rail cars. At the Eagle vegetation. Gaseous air pollutants may Mine, for example, the mining company contain sulfur dioxide which irritates Ore truck headed to the Eagle mine in Michigan. proposed construction of a new road the lungs and can damage or kill plants, to link the mine to Humboldt Mill, an taconite operations ranged between 100 especially evergreens. Metallic mining ore beneficiation plant in rural upper operations in the Lake Superior region and 150-kilowatt hours per ton of pellets Michigan. The proposed road would have disturbed geologic layers containing produced, meaning a mine that produces have transected a remote area, filled asbestos-form fibers which, if released into 8 million tons of taconite pellets per year approximately 26 acres of wetlands, and the air, can pose serious health risks. uses the amount of electrical energy equal to approximately 110,000 households. crossed 22 streams. The potential damage was not limited to the road’s construction: Dust generated by mining contains Transportation Effects particulates that may affect human and animal ore dust from trucks would have impacted health if inhaled and contain pollutants which During mine development, ore is removed the area during mine operation and would can contaminate soil, water, and vegetation. and transported for processing. Blasting have had lasting consequences on water materials, heavy equipment, and large ore quality along the corridor. In the end, the trucks used to remove and transport the mining company abandoned that road Carbon Footprint ore can introduce a number of harmful proposal after the EPA objected based on Developing and operating a mine requires chemicals into nearby waterways. Because water quality concerns. enormous amounts of electricity to run a great percentage of the mined ore machinery, process ore, and maintain will be waste, generally the ore cannot climate control in the underground be economically transported very far tunnels. This energy demand leads to off-site. If the ore is particularly high significant releases of greenhouse gases grade, however, it can be cost-effective to which contribute to global climate change. transport it off-site for further processing. For example, the Bureau of Mines reported At the Flambeau mine in Wisconsin, for that electric power requirements at most example, the high grade of the ore made it 20 Metallic Mineral Mining: The Process & the Price Milling: Reducing Boulders to Sand After the ore is removed, milling is generally the next step toward producing a usable metallic mineral product. Milling involves crushing large pieces of ore removed from the mine. Crushing and grinding reduce the ore pieces to a size

Fugitive dust can potentially contaminate soil, surface water, and groundwater because it can carry toxic elements including heavy metals. It also can be deposited on surrounding soils and surface water and taken up in plant tissues. suitable for mineral extraction, down to fine sand or even a fine powder. A primary ecosystem threat from milling comes in the form of fugitive dust Map of area of potential effect for regional haze prepared for the Polymet DEIS. that escapes during that process. Fugitive dust can potentially contaminate soil, of perimeter roads around the Minntac surface water, and groundwater because facility have been constructed from coarse it can carry toxic elements including tailings. For dust control, tanker trucks heavy metals. It also can be deposited on surrounding soils and surface water and constantly spray water throughout the taken up in plant tissues. This particulate facility. Despite these efforts, the mine has dust also can affect regional haze, another not been able to fully control its dust. In type of air pollution. 2008, mine owner U.S. Steel agreed to pay Techniques for controlling dust are a $120,000 fine for air quality violations not completely effective. In open pit related to excessive dust emissions at operations, the sheer size of the exposed Minntac. Other taconite facilities along the area makes dust suppression difficult. In Iron Range in Minnesota have also been Truck spraying water for dust suppression at the Minnesota, for example, hundreds of miles cited for failures in dust control. Minntac tailings basin. From Raw Earth to Refined Metals: The Stages of the Metallic Mining Process and their Effects on Surrounding Ecosystems 21 Beneficiation: Gravity separation, used in nonferrous Metallurgical Beneficiation Transforming the Milled processing, separates the minerals Once concentrates are isolated through according to their different densities by gravity, chemical, or magnetic processes, Ore to Usable Metals suspending them in a fluid. Their different metallurgical beneficiation processes In the Lake Superior region as well as settling rates allow the desired mineral to can be applied to extract target metals most of the world, high grade ores of iron, be collected from the bottom of a tank. that other methods were unable to copper, gold, silver, and other metals have Froth flotation is the most widely used recover. Hydrometallurgy uses water- based solutions to extract metals from been mined out. Metal-bearing ores are method of beneficiating nonferrous ores. rarely found in high-grade form but are ores, a process known as leaching. The froth flotation method begins by Pyrometallurgy uses high temperature mixed with gangue, or waste material, adding chemicals to the milled ore so that and generally as compounds of several processes to force a chemical reaction the surface of one or more minerals in elements. This means that even after the to convert the ore to a more extractable the slurry will repel water and attract air milling process has reduced the ore to form. Electrometallurgy involves the use a powder, a mine operator must further bubbles. The air bubbles rise to the surface of electrical current to extract metals from ore. Smelting (a form of pyrometallurgy) concentrate the target metal to make of the slurry and the resulting froth, is the most common type of metallurgical shipping economical. containing the minerals, is then skimmed beneficiation, and involves heating the Mines use various processes and collected. Froth flotation is the metal concentrate beyond its melting collectively known as beneficiation to beneficiation method that was proposed point to separate out impurities. accomplish this further separation and by the Crandon Mining Company in concentration of the target metal. The Wisconsin and at the NorthMet project in Beneficiation Byproducts and beneficiation method a mine uses depends Minnesota. Environmental Impacts on the target metal, ore grade, and specific Magnetic separation is used in some The different methods of concentration chemical characteristics of the ore. Every ferrous mine operations. The magnetic and beneficiation use a large variety mine develops a unique combination separation process mixes the crushed ore of physical and chemical processing with water and grinds it to a fine powder techniques in order to maximize recovery with a rotating mill. Magnets separate the of the target mineral. magnetic iron from the gangue, and the Concentrating resulting iron powder is then mixed with Generally all types of ore must be limestone and baked into marble-sized concentrated through separation. The taconite pellets. most common separation methods are The final product of the concentrating gravity, froth flotation, and magnetic. process is often called a concentrate. Beneficiation equipment: autoclave for hydrometallurgy. 22 Metallic Mineral Mining: The Process & the Price and volume of chemicals. Some of these lowers the pH of water and may increase REAGENT THREAT TO THE ENVIRONMENT chemicals are relatively benign but others, its sulfate level and the production of Potassium Toxic at very high levels, causes like sulfuric acid and cyanide, are highly hydrogen sulfide, both of which can be salt imbalance toxic. They must be transported to and toxic to aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Sodium Unknºwn xanthates stored at the mine site until used and The environmental impacts of sulfur Thiocarbonates Unknown can harm ecosystems if they leak or spill. dioxide releases can be seen at the iron Kerosene, fuel Toxic, impairs flavor of tissue, decreased Many process chemicals persist in the beneficiation plant that operated in Wawa, oil, wood tar, dissolved oxygen in water tailings, where they can contact ground or Ontario from 1939 to 1998. The plant’s coal-tar oil, pine oil surface water and be carried away from sulfur dioxide emissions caused severe Aliphatic Toxic the mine site. damage to the boreal forest throughout alcohols The smelting process releases large a 20-mile kill zone downwind of the Polypropylene Unknown glycol methyl amounts of sulfur dioxide, affecting and plant. Impacts included tree and shrub ether sometimes killing trees by acidifying soil deaths and a marked decline in species Methyl isobutyl Unknown and damaging leaves and flowers. The diversity. In addition to these impacts, carnbinol released sulfur dioxide can also react surface waters downwind of the smelter Crysylic acid Toxic, used in disinfectants with oxygen and water to form sulfuric showed a marked increase in sulfate and Copper sulfate Highly toxic to aquatic life acid, a component of acid rain. Acid rain acidity when compared to other waters Sodium sulfide May increase hydrogen sulfide Sulfur dioxide May decrease pH Sodium cyanide Highly toxic to aquatic life Zinc sulfate Highly toxic to aquatic life Starch Breakdown products can deplete Satellite image oxygen in water of the zone of Sodium Highly toxic to aquatic life dead vegetation dichromate downwind of the Sodium fluoride Used as insecticide, toxic smelter at Wawa. Sodium Increases pH hydroxide Lime May increase pH and hardness Soda ash Increases pH Sulfuric acid Decreases pH Sodium May increase pH carbonate Sodium silicate May increase pH Tannin May decrease pH, reduces metal toxicity Complex May decrease pH, causes excessive aquatic phosphates plant growth From Raw Earth to Refined Metals: The Stages of the Metallic Mining Process and their Effects on Surrounding Ecosystems 23

This Map is to Help You Find Safe Ogaa (Walleye) in Lakes Harvested by Lac du Flambeau

Mercury is another byproduct of beneficiation MAP FOR USE BY PREGNANT WOMEN, WOMEN OF CHILDBEARING AGE, AND CHILDREN UNDER 15 YEARS OF AGE. that is of particular concern in the Lake DO NOT EAT OGAA LARGER THAN 20 INCHES. GILE FL EAT OGAA LESS THAN 20 INCHES AND CHOOSE EVEN SMALLER N TURTLE L OGAA TO FURTHER REDUCE MERCURY EXPOSURE. Superior basin; the negative effects of mercury PRESQUE ISLE L CHAIN Walleye consumption ROUND L S TURTLE L HARRIS L L GALILEE HORSEHEAD L TENDERFOOT L IRON PAPOOSE L advisory for Mercury to human health are well documented. OXBOW L CLEAR L BIRCH L PALMER L LYNX L CIRCLE LILY L CRAB L for the Lac du MILLE LACS W BAY L REST L L OF THE FALLS MAMIE L WILDCAT L BIG L BLACK LAC VIEUX DESERT TRUDE L BIG L OAK L Flambeau band. LITTLE HIGH L SPIDER L CROOKED L BIG GIBSON L FOREST L LITTLE STAR L ISLAND FISHTRAP L BIG in the region. Soil samples in this area also L BOULDER L BALLARD L PORTAGE L DEAD PIKE L ALDER L JAG L WHITE SAND L IRVING L LONG L BIG SAND L TWIN L CHAIN L LAURA SHERMAN L Mille Lacs Res. BUCKATABON LAKES contained elevated levels of soluble sulfate MANITOWISH L TROUT L ALLEQUASH L (UPPER AND LOWER) LITTLE TROUT L STAR L VILAS KENTUCK L ASHLAND WILD RICE L SPARKLING L PLUM L TURTLE-FLAMBEAU FL LITTLE JOHN L PICKEREL L SCATTERING UPPER GRESHAM L LOST L OTTER L BIG MUSKELLUNGE L RAZORBACK L RICE L and arsenic. Scars from this contamination TURNER L FRANKLIN L BIG ARBOR VITAE L LITTLE ARBOR VITAE L BIG ST GERMAIN L SNIPE L BUTTERNUT L EAGLE L ROUND L SHISHEBOGAMA L MADELINE L ANVIL L CARROL L LITTLE ST GERMAIN L PIKE L PICKEREL L CRANBERRY L were evident in satellite imagery taken DAIRYLAND RES BUTTERNUT L PRICE DAM L CATFISH L SQUAW L SAND L BUCKSKIN L CLEAR L ISLAND L LITTLE FORK L SQUIRREL L CHAIN L BLUE L in 2010 even though the plant had been BOOTH L GILMORE L INDIAN L MEDICINE L BRANDY L AND SOLBERG L JULIA L RUSK ARROWHEAD L MINOCQUA L N NOKOMIS L JOHNSON L MUSSER L KATHERINE L TWO SISTERS L RAINBOW FL closed for 12 years. FOREST LAC SAULT DORE HASBROOK L MUSKELLUNGE L LONG L BEARSKIN L KAWAGUESAGA L RHINELANDER FL Mercury is another byproduct of DUROY L WILLOW FL MOEN L TOMAHAWK L CHAIN BIG CARR L WILSON L L THOMPSON MARATHON

CHIPPEWA SQUASH L CRESCENT L beneficiation that is of particular concern ONEIDA RICE R FL CHAIN GEORGE L L CHIPPEWA MANSON L in the Lake Superior basin; the negative PELICAN L LINCOLN JERSEY CITY FL BIG EAU PLEINE L WISSOTA RESERVOIR effects of mercury to human health are L MOHAWKSIN L ALICE Funding for these maps was provided by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). SAWYER For Ogaa Smaller than 20 Inches: well documented. In most cases mercury is GLIFWC: February 2016 Eat up to 8 meals or 64 ounces per month. Eat up to 4 meals or 32 ounces per month. Eat up to 2 meals or 16 ounces per month. a low concentration component of the ore . Eat up to 1 meal or 8 ounces per month. 01.5 3 6 9 12 Do not eat ogaa from these lakes. Miles Not enough information available. and is released when the ore is processed GILE FL Number of meals is based on an 8 ounce meal size. If your N TURTLE L PRESQUE ISLE L CHAIN meal size is larger, you should reduce the number of meals you eat per month. ROUND L S TURTLE L HARRIS L with heat, such as during taconite pellet L GALILEE HORSEHEAD L TENDERFOOT L Lac du Flambeau Reservation PAPOOSE L IRON OXBOW L County Boundary CLEAR L BIRCH L PALMER L Tribal reservation boundaries are representations and may not be the actual MILLE LACS LYNX L formation and pyrometallurgy. The CIRCLE LILY L CRAB L W BAY L legally binding boundaries. REST L L OF THE FALLS MAMIE L WILDCAT L BIG L BLACK LAC VIEUX DESERT TRUDE L BIG L OAK L LITTLE HIGH L SPIDER L mercury enters the air and is deposited on CROOKED L BIG GIBSON L FOREST L LITTLE STAR L ISLAND L FISHTRAP L BIG BOULDER L BALLARD L PORTAGE L DEAD PIKE L JAG L WHITE SAND L IRVING L LONG L BIG SAND L ALDER L TWIN L CHAIN L LAURA the landscape by dry and wet deposition. Mille Lacs Res. SHERMAN L BUCKATABON LAKES MANITOWISH L TROUT L ALLEQUASH L (UPPER AND LOWER) LITTLE TROUT L STAR L VILAS KENTUCK L ASHLAND WILD RICE L SPARKLING L PLUM L Fish living in contaminated waterways LITTLE JOHN L PICKEREL L SCATTERING TURTLE-FLAMBEAU FL UPPER GRESHAM L LOST L OTTER L BIG MUSKELLUNGE L RAZORBACK L RICE L TURNER L FRANKLIN L BIG ARBOR VITAE L LITTLE ARBOR VITAE L BIG ST GERMAIN L SNIPE L BUTTERNUT L EAGLE L absorb and concentrate mercury in ROUND L SHISHEBOGAMA L MADELINE L ANVIL L CARROL L LITTLE ST GERMAIN L PIKE L PICKEREL L CRANBERRY L DAIRYLAND RES BUTTERNUT L PRICE DAM L CATFISH L SQUAW L SAND L their bodies. When humans eat the CLEAR L LITTLE FORK L BUCKSKIN L ISLAND L SQUIRREL L CHAIN L BLUE L BOOTH L GILMORE L INDIAN L MEDICINE L BRANDY L AND SOLBERG L JULIA L contaminated fish, mercury acts as a RUSK ARROWHEAD L MINOCQUA L N NOKOMIS L JOHNSON L MUSSER L KATHERINE L TWO SISTERS L RAINBOW FL FOREST LAC SAULT DORE HASBROOK L MUSKELLUNGE L LONG L neurotoxin, interfering with the brain and KAWAGUESAGA L BEARSKIN L RHINELANDER FL

DUROY L WILLOW FL MOEN L BIG CARR L WILSON L L CHIPPEWA TOMAHAWK L CHAIN nervous system. CHIPPEWA L THOMPSON SQUASH L CRESCENT L ONEIDA RICE R FL CHAIN GEORGE L MARATHON MANSON L L WISSOTA LINCOLN PELICAN L SAWYER JERSEY CITY FL

L MOHAWKSIN L ALICE MAP FOR USE BY WOMEN BEYOND CHILDBEARING AGE BIG EAU PLEINE AND BY MEN. RESERVOIR FOR OGAA LARGER THAN 20 INCHES, EAT FEWER MEALS. 24 Metallic Mineral Mining: The Process & the Price

Major sources of mercury in the Lake Superior basin. From Raw Earth to Refined Metals: The Stages of the Metallic Mining Process and their Effects on Surrounding Ecosystems 25

communities. Even when subsidence is not associated with a disaster or accident, planned subsidence can alter drainage patterns and disrupt the natural surface hydrology. The operator of the underground Copperwood mine in Michigan is planning to allow surface subsidence of several feet after mining ends.

For contaminated sediment within stream banks or lake beds, remediation can be very complicated.

Closing a mine operation involves demolishing mine buildings and facilities, removing pipelines, roads, rail lines, and power lines, re-vegetating disturbed areas, and beginning post-mining water treatment and monitoring. During the Tributary of Lake Superior that could be impacted by subsidence at the proposed Copperwood mine site. closure phase, additional monitoring of surface and groundwater, customized to Reclamation: to its natural condition is a long-term, post-mining conditions, should begin. Deconstructing Mine expensive, and time-intensive procedure. Monitoring is essential at waste rock In most cases, the goal is to return the stockpiles and tailings basins to ensure Workings and Reclaiming mine site as closely as possible to its pre- contaminated water is not seeping into the Mine Site mining conditions. surrounding surface and groundwater. When the target mineral is depleted or the One risk that can occur both during Monitoring should continue until the mining operation is no longer profitable, and after mining is subsidence, the surface monitoring data indicates that mine production ends and the mine project collapse of underground mine workings. seepage, mixed with naturally occurring enters the closure and reclamation phase. Catastrophic collapse of underground rain and groundwater, has reached The process of permanently shutting down mines during mining can be a serious equilibrium and meets applicable water mining operations and returning the site hazard to workers and surrounding quality standards. 26 Metallic Mineral Mining: The Process & the Price

Forested wetland at the Lynne Copper deposit in Wisconsin. Once lost, this type of wetland is difficult to restore. From Raw Earth to Refined Metals: The Stages of the Metallic Mining Process and their Effects on Surrounding Ecosystems 27

Post-closure refers to the time that it takes, after surface reclamation, for a mine site to be returned to its pre-mine condition. Post-closure reclamation will be influenced by the climate, physical characteristics of the mine site, applicable law, and the technical and economic feasibility of the reclamation project. The amount of time needed to achieve a pre-mine condition depends on which resources are contaminated and the extent of contamination. If the site needs remediation to reach its pre-mine condition, the time required will depend on the extent of contamination and the resources committed to cleaning up that contamination. For contaminated sediment within stream banks or lake beds, remediation can be very complicated. At the closed Flambeau mine in northern Sediment detention ponds at the closed Flambeau mine in Wisconsin. Wisconsin, for example, drainage from a parking lot entered a stream, and efforts to remediate the copper-contaminated stream have been ongoing for over a decade beyond mine closure.

3. Mining and Its Effects on Water

Mining operations impact the environment in a myriad of ways, with varying degrees of consequences and reparability. Metallic mining’s most dangerous risk, however, is to water. Metals contamination, chemical pollution, the possibility of acid mine drainage, and other threats to surface and groundwater are risks that must be taken into consideration in both permitting decisions Satellite image of the town of Bento Rodrigues in Minas Satellite image of the town of Bento Rodrigues after the Gerais Brazil before the structural failure of the Samarco structural failure of the Samarco tailings dam. and when operating a mine. Mines and tailings dam. associated facilities must be carefully designed and engineered to contain the Hydrologic Changes: originates when minerals containing wastes produced; the failure to do so has Acid Mine Drainage, sulfur interact with oxygen and water. The had devastating effects on ecosystems. chemical reaction that follows generates In 2015, for example, two tailings dams Metals, Chemical Pollution, the acids and oxides commonly referred containing iron mining waste collapsed and Water Quantity to as AMD. Mining can significantly at the Samarco iron ore mine in Brazil. accelerate the acidification process because The tailings escaping from the dam Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) mining raises the sulfide minerals to mostly destroyed a nearby town and Among the many environmental risks the surface and crushes them, thereby contaminated the water supply to more posed by metallic mineral mining, acid exposing more surface area to water than 200 other area towns. mine drainage (AMD) stands out for its and oxygen. While nonferrous minerals potential to permanently and irreparably are often bound with sulfur, creating a damage the surrounding ecosystem. AMD significant potential for the generation of 28 Mining and Its Effects on Water 29

Uncontrolled acid generation from AMD results in an ecosystem with high levels of metals, dissolved solids, sulfates and acidity. A mine draining acid water can devastate rivers, streams, and aquatic life for many years.

AMD, ferrous ores that contain pyrite can also generate AMD. A mine can generate AMD for hundreds or even thousands of years, until all of the sulfur in its tailings, waste rock stockpiles, and exposed mine pits has been consumed in the acid generation process. AMD can kill fish and other aquatic life and severely contaminate surface and groundwater. Not all mines will have an AMD problem, but it is critically important that the possibility of AMD generation be fully investigated at every mine. Although it can sometimes occur under natural conditions, AMD comes primarily from active and abandoned mines. Acid rock drainage at the Buck and Dover mine in Michigan. The water flows into the Iron River. In addition to acidifying ground and surface water, AMD accelerates the The waste rock stockpiles at the installing caps on the stockpiles to limit dissolution of metals such as copper, lead, now-closed Dunka Mine in Minnesota infiltration and by using constructed and mercury into ground or surface water. demonstrate how a mine can continue to wetlands to treat the discharged effluent Uncontrolled acid generation from AMD generate and release AMD. In addition have had limited success. The pH levels in results in an ecosystem with high levels to generating acid, the waste rock still the affected creeks have improved, but the of metals, dissolved solids, sulfates and releases sulfate and metals such as copper, concentrations of some metals, like nickel, acidity. A mine draining acid water can nickel, and cobalt at levels that exceed have not decreased. The source of acid devastate rivers, streams, and aquatic life state and federal water quality standards. and metals at the Dunka Pit is the Virginia for many years. Efforts to mitigate this contamination by Formation, a sedimentary layer on top 30 Metallic Mineral Mining: The Process & the Price

form relatively insoluble compounds in water that will sink and be buried in the sediments. Others, however, are more soluble and will become available to interact with organisms. Although many metals become more soluble in acidic water, including copper, cobalt, cadmium, and nickel, some metals are more soluble at neutral or higher pH. These include selenium, fluoride, aluminum, uranium, and arsenic. In addition, some processing chemicals like cyanide are most soluble at neutral to alkaline conditions. Chemical, Sulfur, and Thermal Pollution Metals are not the only chemicals released at metallic mine sites. Other forms of chemical pollution can result from spills of ore, concentrate, process chemicals, and other materials used at the mine. Contaminated water seeping out of tailings basins, waste rock stockpiles, and Safety warnings in the Iron River downstream of the Buck and Dover mines. underground mine workings are common of the Biwabik Iron Range in Minnesota. Metals Contamination causes of chemical pollution. New mine proposals along the east end of For example, in 2008, the Michigan Mining extracts the minerals and metals Department of Environmental Quality the Mesabi Range, including the proposed found in the ore body. These metals— (MDEQ) became concerned about NorthMet mine, would intersect this lead, arsenic, antimony, cadmium, cobalt, elevated selenium concentrations in same mineral formation and could create copper, zinc, mercury, manganese, effluents from the Empire and Tilden similar AMD issues. molybdenum, and many more—may be taconite mines. Selenium levels in area essential to life but in large quantities waterways exceeded water quality cause metal toxicity. Some of these metals standards considered protective of fish and Mining and Its Effects on Water 31

Potential copper nickel mines along the east end of the Biwabik Iron Range. 32 Metallic Mineral Mining: The Process & the Price

Fish are an important subsistence food for tribal members. aquatic life, in some cases by more than tenfold. GLIFWC found that: Empire-Tilden mining district in Michigan. Waste rock piles, mine pits, and tailings from over 50 years of mining.

[f]ish collected from the Escanaba River, led the MDEQ to issue fish consumption can be transformed into methylmercury, Goose Lake and surrounding streams, advisories for lakes and streams down a neurotoxin. Methylmercury becomes including brook trout, northern pike, gradient of the mine effluent. Efforts to increasingly concentrated as it moves up and white suckers, all exceeded the reduce selenium discharges are underway food chains, resulting in greater exposure EPA’s suggested threshold values above but data collected by GLIFWC in 2015 to humans and wildlife. Because fish is a which there may be impacts on fish indicates that the levels still exceed primary source of mercury in humans, reproduction. Selenium levels in these standards. the mercury in fish tissue stemming from fish were approximately 20 times the national average. The results confirmed Another mine-related chemical of mining releases of sulfate is a great concern that selenium is accumulating in fish at concern is sulfate. Sulfur occurs naturally as for tribes. levels that may have adverse impacts on the pure element and in compounds. When Sulfate can also suppress the growth these species. sulfur (in the form of sulfate) is present of wild rice. Minnesota has limits on with mercury, the combination has the the discharge of sulfate into rice waters, Because excess selenium exposure potential to have extensive environ­mental although those standards have rarely can be harmful to humans, these findings impacts. In the presence of sulfate, mercury been enforced. The effects of sulfates on Mining and Its Effects on Water 33 manoomin (or wild rice) are of great reasons Minnesota limits sulfate levels to could help limit the generation of toxic concern to the Anishinaabe because 10 parts per million for water used in wild sulfide. of their deep cultural connection with rice production. The amount of sulfate in The effects of sulfate releases on wild manoomin. In the 1940s, Minnesota mine water can be tens or hundreds of rice beds can be seen in the Sandy River Department of Natural Resource scientist times greater than the amounts naturally and connecting lakes in Minnesota. While Dr. John Moyle conducted extensive field found in nature. Recent research has these waterways historically provided research on the distribution of wild rice indicated that sulfate released by mines abundant manoomin, almost none in Minnesota. Moyle’s data showed that is converted to sulfide in the sediment of exists there now. The primary reason for waters with sulfate levels over 10 parts per a river or lake and it is this sulfide that is the decline is the high concentrations million (ppm) did not support healthy highly toxic to wild rice. Controls to limit of sulfate seeping out of the Minntac stands of wild rice. His work is one of the the discharge of sulfate into waterways tailings basin immediately upstream.

Wild rice on the Mondeaux Flowage. This area could Water seeping out of the Minntac tailings basin and moving toward the Sandy Lakes in Minnesota. be impacted by mining in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. 34 Metallic Mineral Mining: The Process & the Price

Flooded wetlands downgradient of the Minntac tailings basin. Dead spruce trees indicate a change in hydrology.

Flooded Minnesota county road CT308, downstream of an iron mine tailings basin.

water may experience a change in species composition; wetlands that are dependent on groundwater may dry out completely. State regulators have recognized that to some fish, and elevated temperatures For fish, lowering the water table sulfate emissions in the hundreds of can reduce fish egg viability. can expose spawning grounds, making parts per million coupled with increased them unusable. To mitigate the impacts water levels (see discussion below) are a Water Quantity of a lowered water level, mine operators probable cause of the near disappearance By its nature, mining consumes and sometimes pump water directly into lakes of wild rice in the area. diverts surface and groundwater and can and streams. But this approach bypasses Another water issue in mine seriously affect its quantity, flow speed, the natural system and may not adequately development arises when the discharged and flow direction in the area around replicate the water’s flow, temperature, oxygen, and chemistry. wastewater is a different temperature than the project. The management of water Water pumped out of the mine must be the receiving water. Warmer water is lethal is an important consideration in both evaluating environmental impacts and in stored or used. Some of the water is used Recent research has indicated that sulfate planning mine operations. in ore processing and much of it is used to released by mines is converted to sulfide in the The need to manage water begins transport tailings to the disposal facilities. sediment of a river or lake and it is this sulfide with the workings used to access the ore From there, the water can re-enter the that is highly toxic to wild rice. Controls to limit body. If nearby lakes and streams are environment as seepage. the discharge of sulfate into waterways could connected to the water table, their levels Most modern mines treat wastewater help limit the generation of toxic sulfide. will drop as well. Wetlands that depend to comply with water quality standards on groundwater for a portion of their but often dispose of the treated wastewater Mining and Its Effects on Water 35 through drain fields that flow into existing The Challenge of A very serious risk associated with tailings bodies of surface water or shallow Containing Mine Waste storage is the long-term structural stability groundwater. Introducing this treated of the storage facilities. Catastrophic failures Mine facilities, especially the tailings water can alter existing hydrology and have occurred throughout time at tailings management areas and waste rock storage create excess water in the system. In dams, causing environmental contamination areas, must be carefully designed, operated, streams, the additional water can lead and the deaths of local residents. and maintained. Only with a high level to flooding and increased scouring of of care, not only during the life of the streambed and banks. Wetlands that are mine but often for many years beyond, ponds and basins typically are very inundated with excess water can change can a mine avoid the negative impacts large in size and become permanent type, and the ecology of those wetlands can described above. features of the landscape. Because tailings become permanently altered. Although contain sulfide compounds, heavy wastewater itself may meet water quality Tailings metals, and unrecovered beneficiation standards, the chemistry of the wastewater Tailings are the main byproduct of the chemicals, storage facilities that contain beneficiation process. More specifically, them are a source of contaminants to Because mine tailings can be a source of AMD, tailings are composed of minerals which surrounding waters for centuries or longer. the goal for sulfur containing tailings is to could not be recovered or have no Environmental contamination occurs engineer a facility that isolates tailings from commercial value, along with the water when tailings escape from management either oxygen or water. and chemicals used in beneficiation areas or from backfilled mine workings; processes. Tailings are a combination of almost any type of facility for storing solid waste and water, typically in slurry these mine wastes eventually will leak can leach metals from the surrounding or paste form because the milling process contaminants into water. geology, causing increases in groundwater creates very small particles. They must How a mining company designs a concentrations of toxic constituents. be stored in a reservoir made specifically tailings facility depends on the site’s Finally, water level changes caused for tailings storage, often a pond or basin. specific environment, the conditions, by pumping water out of mine pits and Because mine tailings can be a source and the type of mineral processing it will releasing water through tailings basins of AMD, the goal for sulfur containing utilize. The difficulty is that tailings are not can damage wild rice. Wild rice grows in tailings is to engineer a facility that isolates easily kept isolated from the surrounding environment. All liners and cap systems shallow water, and increases in depth may tailings from either oxygen or water. This isolation prevents the acidification used to isolate tailings and tailings water flood wild rice beds. In addition, if a large reactions from occurring, but, as described from the surrounding environment leak, quantity of water is released all at once, it below, it can be difficult. due to imperfections in their installation can uproot and kill the growing plant. The environmental challenges at and general wear over time. In addition, tailings facilities are many. Tailings no containment system or engineering 36 Metallic Mineral Mining: The Process & the Price

A tailings basin at the Minntac mine complex with trunks of trees uprooted. Mining and Its Effects on Water 37 control will last forever, and the perpetual maintenance and care of these facilities has become an important factor in the assessment of mining impacts. Illustrating this principle is the Grouse Creek mine in Idaho, located adjacent to the largest wilderness complex in the contiguous United States. The Grouse Creek Mine was heralded as a state of the art mine when it opened in 1994. Three years later, the mine closed. Soon thereafter, a tailings impoundment began leaking cyanide into surrounding water. In 2003, the U.S. Forest Service declared the mine site an “imminent and substantial endangerment” to human health; cleanup activities are ongoing. A very serious risk associated with tailings storage is the long-term structural stability of the storage facilities. Catastrophic failures have occurred throughout time at tailings dams, causing Specular hematite ore left behind on a waste rock stockpile in Michigan. environmental contamination and the Brazil killed 17 people and contaminated hundreds or thousands of years. Tailings deaths of local residents. For example, in 2014, a tailings pond catastrophically the water supply for many more. generated by other types of concentration collapsed at the Mount Polley gold and Tailings from hydrometallurgical processes, such as froth flotation and copper mine in British Colombia, Canada. processes are more hazardous than tailings gravity separation, can be stored in pits, The breach sent over 30 million cubic feet produced during the concentration tailings dams, impoundments, or other of contaminated effluent into waterways, process discussed in Chapter 2. They types of tailings management areas. Ideally and the formerly pristine Quesnel Lake. contain high levels of metals and these facilities are lined with impermeable About one million sockeye salmon spawn chemicals used in the hydrometallurgical materials, such as clay or synthetic liners, annually in the Quesnel Lake watershed. beneficiation process and so must be but this is not always the case. As mentioned above, the failure of two separated from the environment in tailing ponds at the Samarco mine in capped and often double lined facilities for 38 Metallic Mineral Mining: The Process & the Price

Waste Rock Mines sometime send wastewater and Rock that is not targeted by the mining leachate (liquids collected from tailings operation is called waste rock. Waste areas and waste rock stockpiles) to a water rock, like tailings, is a physical byproduct treatment plant. After treatment, water and of the mining process that presents an useful chemicals may be recycled for use environmental challenge and reclamation in mine operations such as ore processing, responsibility. A mine generates waste rock but wastes must be stored in the tailings in the process of stripping the overburden Cross section of a version of the Polymet tailings facilities. Even after a metallic mine closes, (the rock and soil on the surface) to reach basin with seepage capture and geotechnical stability water treatment plants may need to operate, features. the ore body and access the target mineral. sometimes for many years, to prevent con­ tamination of surrounding waters. If well- Waste rock may contain some target underwater, thereby reducing the exposure planned and implemented, a water treat­ mineral but it is in amounts insufficient of sulfur and metals to oxygen to decrease for a mine to economically process. ment system can be an effective mitigation acidification and oxidation. Sub-aqueous Waste rock does, however, still contain tool at operating and closed mines but disposal generally is an effective mitigation metals and minerals. These metals may must be maintained at significant expense. include lead, zinc, arsenic, antimony, method; however, not all mines have an silver, cadmium, cobalt, copper, mercury, open pit that can be used as a disposal Some types of wetlands may take decades manganese, aluminum, molybdenum, site, and using natural lakes destroys the to restore and may never again become and nickel. Waste rock also can contain existing ecosystem of the lake. self-sustaining ecosystems or provide sulfide compounds, and to prevent AMD the ecosystem benefits that they provided it should not be exposed to air or water. Restoring Hydrology before being altered. The difficulty of the restoration and the time required depend These substances can escape into the Water quality and quantity issues can environment through runoff or fugitive on the type of wetland and the quality persist after mining ends. The very dust, and groundwater containing metals of the mitigation work. existence of surface and underground can contaminate surface waters. mine features can permanently alter local Waste rock is sometimes stored in Seepage to groundwater from some lined facilities with leachate collection hydrology by changing water levels in facilities, such as temporary waste systems to collect water that escapes, streams and lakes, filling wetlands, and rock stockpiles of non-reactive waste thereby reducing impacts to surface and creating backfilled pits and underground rock, might need water treatment and groundwater. Another common waste rock workings that alter local groundwater water quality monitoring for a short mitigation measure is the sub-aqueous quality and flow. Water treatment is also time. Other facilities like tailings basins (under water) disposal of rock if it has a often needed during and after mining to may need groundwater capture and high sulfur or metal content. This disposal ensure that discharges meet water quality treatment and water quality monitoring method involves placing waste rock standards. for centuries after a mine has closed. The Mining and Its Effects on Water 39

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Wetland restoration is an important part of mine closure, and wetlands can play an important role in the restoration of both water quality and quantity. But the restoration of wetlands is not a straightforward task. Some types of wetlands may take decades to restore and may never again become self-sustaining ecosystems or provide the ecosystem benefits they provided before being altered. The difficulty of the restoration and the time required depend on the type of wetland and the quality of the mitigation work. Many wetland restoration projects also require long-term monitoring and periodic maintenance. Constructed wetlands are sometimes used to improve water quality. Treatment wetlands use biological processes to remove metals from the water. While they can be successful in removing some Wetland restoration projects are complex and don't usually replace all functions of an intact wetland. metals, each wetland must be individually designed for the specific type of waste hydrometallurgical tailings basin proposed A particularly challenging aspect of stream it will treat. Treatment wetlands, at the NorthMet mine in Minnesota, groundwater protection is the difficulty similar to other mining water treatment for example, would contain hazardous of monitoring. Because groundwater systems, require long-term maintenance materials that in a water-rich environment moves down gradient much more slowly to ensure the proper functioning of could eventually leak to groundwater. than surface water, it may take centuries the biological processes that remove The NorthMet basin would be a potential for contamination to be detected at contaminants from the water. source of contamination in perpetuity. monitoring points. The long-term nature Given the significant impacts that That facility would be constructed in a of this threat means that groundwater mining has on water quality and quantity wetland and over a buried stream that monitoring must also be long-term, and the potential long-term nature of eventually enters the Embarrass River, so particularly in wet areas like the Great some of those impacts, careful manage­ long-term containment is essential. Lakes region. ment is essential. Cumulative Impacts of Metallic Mining— 4. Time, Geography, and Community

To develop an accurate and complete understanding of mining’s impacts, regulatory agencies need to take a big- picture view, taking into account not only the cumulative effects of an area’s past and current metallic mines but also mining’s potential economic effects over generations. Environmental Effects of More than One Mine The Great Lakes region provides a good example of how historical mining operations complicate the monitoring and safety of new mining ventures. Mining has occurred throughout the Great Lakes region for more than 150 years; historical metallic mining operations dot the landscape throughout the 1836, 1837, Headframe at the Northshore mine in Silver Bay, which has been operating since 1956. 1842, and 1854 ceded territories. (See map on page 42.) Because some historical mines operated with little environmental protections, water contaminated with acid and metals often drained away from the 41 42 Metallic Mineral Mining: The Process & the Price

Closed metallic mines in the ceded territory. Cumulative Impacts of Metallic Mining—Time, Geography, and Community 43

Cumulative effects of mine discharges have increased sulfate concentrations in the St. Louis River. 44 Metallic Mineral Mining: The Process & the Price mines and into streams. Some mines were closed without remediation or monitoring activities. The cumulative environmental impact of closed and abandoned mines is relatively unknown; nevertheless, environ­ mental review of a new project should consider these historical facilities and their

Multiple mining operations in the same area can cause simultaneous impacts to the environment. possible impacts when a new mine project is proposed for the same area. Mining effects can also accumulate and compound where ore bodies of different grades or different minerals overlap in one geographic area. Multiple mining operations in the same area can cause simultaneous impacts to the environment. For example, water with high concentrations of sulfate seeping out of several different tailings basins in Minnesota flow through different tributaries to the St. Louis River. (See map Few wildlife corridors remain on the Iron Range of Minnesota due to mining impacts. on page 43.) In that case, the cumulative effect of sulfate on the St. Louis River in Wisconsin were smelted in Michigan, Cumulative effects from numerous is greater than the effect of any one environmental impacts on treaty resources mine developments can impact species’ mine project. at both locations would have to be habitats. And while land use changes Regional impacts of multiple mine addressed. In response to this concern, accumulated over time can affect a variety projects are of particular concern for the the US Environmental Protection Agency of species, they are a particular concern for Ojibwe tribes whose treaty rights extend worked closely with tribes and tribal endangered or threatened species already throughout much of the Lake Superior agencies to develop a protocol for assessing in decline. Habitats can be fragmented by basin. For example, if ore from a mine cumulative impacts on tribal lands. the large surface areas that mines typically Cumulative Impacts of Metallic Mining—Time, Geography, and Community 45

The US Environmental Protection Agency worked closely with tribes and tribal agencies to develop a protocol for assessing cumulative impacts on tribal lands. disturb. The combination of new mining activity coupled with existing stressors such as climate change creates concerns for the long-term health of populations of these animals. An analysis of wildlife migration corridors prepared for the proposed NorthMet mine provides an apt demonstration of cumulative impacts. (See map on page 44.) The report concluded that only limited migration corridors remain in the Iron Range of Minnesota, highlighting the fact that the disruption of any one corridor would have a significant impact. Socioeconomic Issues and Impacts Recreational value of land, such as camping and trail use, must be accounted for in socioeconomic analysis. While the economic evaluation of a bonds. Historically, however, many If a wetland is filled, its function as a no-cost, potential mine typically focuses on jobs mining companies have gone bankrupt natural water treatment is destroyed, and revenue, a true and accurate picture and been unable to pay the cost of and it might need to be replaced by a costly must also factor in the financial aspects cleanup. An estimation of a mine’s cost artificial water treatment system. of the environmental degradation. For to the community must therefore factor example, many mine projects may require in the possibility that mine closure and water treatment activities for decades remediation costs will be left to local a healthy environment provides to the or centuries. Ideally the costs of water residents or taxpayers. public. Wetlands, so often placed at risk treatment, cleanup, and remediation Just as the negative costs of mining by mining operations, have been called activities will be paid by the mining have to be considered, so must a com­ “the kidneys of the world” because they company through financial assurance munity weigh the tangible benefits that naturally filter and clean the water that 46 Metallic Mineral Mining: The Process & the Price flows through them. If a wetland is filled, its function as a no-cost, natural water treatment is destroyed, and it might need to be replaced by a costly artificial water treatment system. Other factors complicate the understanding of mining socioeconomics, including the job losses that can result in other sectors of a rural economy. Tourism and outdoor recreation activities like camping and fishing are not always compatible with a large industrial project like mining. If tourists choose other destinations for outdoor recreation, jobs in those sectors of the economy can suffer. Also complicating an understanding of mining socioeconomics are the impacts of rapid population growth which may Because most new mines are outcomes, as well as a connection between overextend schools and social services. proposed in rural areas where economic geographic areas with concentrated levels While some mines may provide an development is challenging, local of mining and high levels of chronic overall positive economic outcome in a communities often view a mine as an poverty. Areas of the US having the highest levels economic engine that will allow their When researchers at the University of long-term poverty tend to be the very town to thrive. Yet the reality is that areas of Wisconsin-Madison compiled places that were the site of thriving of the US having the highest levels of socioeconomic information on incomes, extractive industries. long-term poverty tend to be the very unemployment rates, and poverty rates for places that were the site of thriving 301 mine sites located in rural areas, their community, economic research indicates extractive industries like mining. And findings showed that: that mines do not necessarily result in while many look at mining as a long- [C]ontrary to the long-established long-term economic prosperity for the term economic panacea, the social and assumptions, but consistent with local area. Understanding what a potential economic impacts are far more complex. more recent critiques, roughly half mine will and will not do for a community Researchers and economists have found of all published findings indicate is critical to accurately evaluating its effect a correlation between mining activity in negative economic outcomes in mining on that community. rural communities and negative economic communities, with the remaining Cumulative Impacts of Metallic Mining—Time, Geography, and Community 47

findings being split roughly evenly seen more recently in the iron mines of Many of the high paying mining jobs go to between favorable and neutral/ Northern Minnesota, where, starting in nonlocal workers who possess the needed indeterminate ones. 2015, a market glut of foreign steel caused qualifications. New mining jobs may be taconite prices to drop. The resulting lower The researchers found little scientific basis produced, but local workers may not be able prices caused the shutdown of half of the for the popular assumption that mining to take advantage of them. always leads to economic improvement. region’s big iron-ore operations, at least temporarily, and the loss of 1,500 area jobs Mining projects do create a number and technical expertise not typically found in the “notoriously cyclical” iron mining of high paying jobs, yet past and present in a rural workforce. The result is that industry. mining communities often see high many of the high paying mining jobs go to Community support for mining levels of poverty. The reasons underlying nonlocal workers who possess the needed typically depends upon an assumption this paradox are complex, and a true qualifications. New mining jobs may be that mining will bring high paying jobs understanding of mining’s impacts on a produced, but local workers may not be to local citizens and general economic community can only be reached through able to take advantage of them. prosperity for the community. But consideration of the full range of its The boom and bust cycle typical of mining’s legacy of environmental damage economic costs and benefits. One factor is the mining industry is another factor that may be too easily overlooked when a mine that modern mines employ fewer workers can negatively impact a rural community. project is proposed in a rural community than in the past because much of the Metal prices fluctuate drastically on the hungry for jobs and lost prosperity. As work is now mechanized and automated. global market; typically, when prices socioeconomic studies have shown, this Research by Dr. Thomas Power, an are high, mines expand and new mines view of mining as an economic savior has economics professor at the University of are built. When prices decline, however, little basis in long-term economic reality. Montana, shows that employment trends mines reduce their output or temporarily And for the communities that come to in mining operations of the Iron Range close. This ebb and flow in ore prices depend on them, mines and mining jobs in Minnesota reflect an 83% reduction in is particularly relevant in the upper will always have a limited lifetime. Even if the number of mining jobs between 1979 Great Lakes region, where many of the the price of the ore is stable, the resource is and 2005, with increased mechanization proposed mines have relatively low ore finite and the projects will come to an end being one of the main reasons for this grades. Generally, the lower the grade, the when the resource is gone. decline. Many mining jobs that remain lower the profit margin for a mine. The require a level of education, specialization, effects of this sensitivity to price has been

5. Mining’s Effects on Anishinaabe Culture

A mine brings many changes to the surrounding land and to the people who live there. These consequences can feel especially acute to native people whose culture is inextricably tied to that land. In order to appreciate what these changes mean for the Ojibwe tribes in this region, it is important to understand their worldview and orientation toward the natural world. Ojibwe Spiritual Beliefs and the Moral Dimensions of Land Stewardship To the Anishinaabe, any environmental destruction has consequences, whether or not it is associated with mining. When hunting, fishing, or gathering, Anishinaabe In Anishinaabe culture, environmental decisions are based upon how they will impact the land for seven see their role as part of both the natural generations to come. and spiritual order. Anishinaabe spiritual beliefs mandate the use of certain plants, animals, and fish in ceremonies attendant to hunting, fishing, and gathering

48 Mining’s Effects on Anishinaabe Culture 49

(At far left) Frances Van Zile, a Sokaogon Chippewa tribal member gives a ceremonial staff to a visitor.

(At left) Sokaogon Chippewa tribal member using a drum during a ceremony.

(Above) Evaporating the ziinzibaakwadwaaboo (maple sap) at a sugarbush.

Makwa (black bear) is a culturally important species to Waawaashkeshi (deer) or ayaabe (buck) is a main Ma'iingan (wolf), also a clan animal, accompanied the the Anishinaabe. A large percentage of Ojibwe people staple of the traditional and modern diet of many tribal Original Man on his journey to name all of creation. belong to makwa doodem (bear clan) who traditionally members. The waawaashkeshi will allow itself to be Although they parted ways once the journey was held the role of patrolling village outskirts. Makwa is harvested for subsistence as long as Anishinaabeg pays complete, the deep kinship that was formed exists also viewed as a keeper of medicinal plant knowledge. the proper respect to ensure the continuation of the to this day. spirit of the waawaashkeshi. 50 Metallic Mineral Mining: The Process & the Price activities. These ceremonies ensure the • For the Anishinaabe, the difference still be spirits that need to be recognized perpetuation of the resources and the between humans and non-humans when and honored. All spiritual beings, whether physical, mental, and spiritual well-being determining who constitutes a spiritual human or non-human, have rights and of the person. being is less clearly defined. A spiritual warrant respect. being may manifest as a human, animal, Three aspects of an Anishinaabe view of plant, or rock but may also reside in or • Humans are not the masters of the world nature inextricably link the perpetuation of be associated with certain places such as but rather weak and pitiable creatures, humans to the perpetuation of the natural a mountain or body of water. As such, dependent upon all other non-human world. This belief system holds that the line when an Anishinaabe is interacting with beings for survival. The proper attitude between human and non-human beings is a part of their environment that may be towards the natural world is one of care- ambiguous: deemed inanimate by some, there may taking, humility, and gratitude.

Many traditional teachings of the Anishinaabeg occur in landscapes such as the sandstone sea caves and the shores of Gichigami (Lake Superior).

Anishinaabe spiritual beliefs mandate the use of certain plants, animals, and fish in ceremonies attendant to hunting, fishing, and gathering activities. These ceremonies ensure the perpetuation of the resources and the physical, mental, and spiritual well-being of the person.

Aerial view of Terrace Bay in Ontario. Mining’s Effects on Anishinaabe Culture 51

• The relationship of humans to the rest of nature is one of reciprocity. Animals, for example, will offer themselves to a hunter Map depicting the as an act of pity for his or her weakness. Traditional Cultural If the hunter does not accept this gift Property of the with feelings of respect and gratitude, the Sokaogon Chippewa. natural world will withdraw cooperation. The proposed Crandon mine would have been Anishinaabe perpetuate this worldview located within this TCP. and their attendant responsibilities to the natural world through stories, ceremonies, and language. These teachings instruct Anishinaabeg about how to care for, manage, and make decisions that affect the land. Given this worldview, the alteration or destruction of plant and animal communities without proper respect given to the non-human beings involved invites disaster not only for the environments affected but also for humans. Harm to the Sokaogon Indian Community, described Mining and Its Effect rights of non-human beings is equivalent how environmental impacts of the mine to environmental harm. In a reciprocal on the Land: The Keweenaw would have been world, such a violation is understood to Bay Indian Community have dire consequences for humans who visited not only on the waters, wetlands, and the Eagle Mine disregard this relationship. In addition, streams, and hills that make up what human beings have a responsibility to be a we here call the Mushgigagamongsebe An Anishinaabe view of land focuses voice for non-human beings who cannot District, but on the Tribe, other Ojibwe on the importance of sustainability and integrity of natural resources and speak for themselves. groups, and the living cultural environment Illustrating this belief system are the habitats that support them. Place is for whose care Ojibwe people deem thoughts shared by the Sokaogon particularly important to the general Chippewa Community, in a report themselves to be responsible. Anishinaabe thought, which is rooted prepared during the environmental more towards space than time. The impact analysis of a proposed mine. The importance of a particular geographic report, titled The Mushgigagamongsebe: spot can no more be moved to a different A Traditional Cultural Landscape of the location than a significant event in 52 Metallic Mineral Mining: The Process & the Price

American history be moved to a different are required to obtain permission from The importance of a particular geographic time. This sense of specific geographic the mining company and wear proper spot can no more be moved to a different importance and integrity can be at odds location than a significant event in American safety attire while at the rock. with modern mining interests. history be moved to a different time. This sense Since the mining company has The importance of the land and of specific geographic importance and integrity conditioned access to Migizi Asin, the rights of non-human beings in can be at odds with modern mining interests. practicing Ojibwe spirituality at the Anishinaabe culture is at the heart of site has been affected and forced to the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community’s extend under the rock, and Migizi Asin undergo an inorganic change, at least for concerns about the Eagle mine, located could be damaged if the mine workings the lifetime of the mine. If Migizi Asin in the 1842 ceded territory. The opening collapse. The rock is also subject to the does not survive the mining activities, to the mine shaft is adjacent to the base industrial noise of mining operations, the loss of such a key site would impact of Migizi Asin (Eagle Rock), a place a significant impact considering the the Anishinaabeg ability to practice where the community has conducted ceremonial use of the site relies on its their spirituality and culture and lead fasting, prayer, and other ceremonies for quiet and remote location. Theoretically, to a corresponding loss of Anishinaabe generations. A portion of the mine will Migizi Asin remains accessible, but visitors identity.

Migizi Asin, or Eagle Rock, at the Eagle mine site in Michigan, after the mining Aerial view of the Eagle mine site. company restricted access to this sacred site. Mining’s Effects on Anishinaabe Culture 53 Mining’s Disruptive Effects on Resources and Practices Critical to Anishinaabe Culture Manoomin (Wild Rice) Manoomin is central to the Ojibwe migration story and tribes’ subsequent settlement in the Great Lakes region: Ojibwe prophecy directed them to journey until they found the “food that grows upon the water.” When they reached the shores of Lake Superior and found manoomin growing on the waters, the Anishinaabe understood their 500-year journey was over. Manoomin remains a unifying feature of Ojibwe society and culture. Not only is it an important food source, it is used in ceremonies as a way to honor the Ojibwe prophecy and to show continued respect for this invaluable resource. In fact, the distribution of Anishinaabe corresponds closely to the distribution (Above) Tribal members seeding manoomin on of manoomin. Wild rice features in the Rice Bay on Lac Vieux Desert Lake. lives of other tribes as well, including the Menominee Tribe of central Wisconsin, (Right) Young tribal members whose English name is derived from the enjoying manoomin. Ojibwe word for “wild rice man.” Stories and histories of various Ojibwe bands throughout the Great Lakes region illustrate manoomin’s distinct influence on and importance to the Ojibwe people. The manoomin found in the aptly named Rice 54 Metallic Mineral Mining: The Process & the Price

Lake, on the Mole Lake Reservation in Wisconsin, is one of the main reasons the tribe settled in that area. The tribe waged wars with neighboring Dakota tribes to keep possession of the lake, and these wild rice beds continue to figure prominently in the tribe’s cultural practices. In response to the proposed Crandon mine that would have been located less than two miles upstream, Frances Van Zile, a

Manoomin remains a unifying feature of Ojibwe society and culture. Not only is it an important food source, it is used in ceremonies as a way to honor the Ojibwe prophecy and to show continued respect for this invaluable resource. member of the Sokaogon (Mole Lake) Chippewa, explained the sense of loss that would accompany the destruction of this manoomin: “There is no substitute for wild Tribal members harvesting manoomin on Rice Bay on Lac Vieux Desert Lake. rice. My whole way of being as an Indian Anishinaabe view of manoomin generally would be destroyed. I can’t imagine being Giigoonyag (Fish) and information about particular beds without it. And there is no substitute for Mining can affect fish in many ways. specifically, regulators should seek out this lake’s rice.” (See Chapter 3 for a detailed discussion tribal Traditional Ecological Knowledge As described in Chapter 3, sulfates of mining’s effects on water.) Impacts (TEK). Such knowledge is derived from and water level changes pose threats to the food chain in lakes and rivers are centuries of living alongside this resource to the manoomin resource. Given particularly damaging to Anishinaabe and can shed light on how it may respond because of the nature of subsistence the integral role manoomin plays in to environmental changes and how it harvest of fish. Tribal members tend Anishinaabe culture, regulators must should be managed. give serious consideration to these to consume fish in cycles, with peak impacts when considering a potential consumption occurring in spring. When mine. To adequately understand the the fish are impacted to the point that Mining’s Effects on Anishinaabe Culture 55 tribal members must limit their fish intake or avoid it altogether, their ability to consume fish in ways required by their culture, such as in feasts, is significantly affected. Mercury in fish tissue is the primary source of fish consumption limits in the Great Lakes region, and mines are the largest sources of mercury in the Lake Superior basin. The mercury from mines is emitted to the air via smokestacks. A portion of this mercury returns to the waters in the ceded territories where bacteria can convert it to methylmercury. These bacteria are eaten by bigger organisms, who are eaten by small fish, who in turn are eaten by bigger fish like walleye and northern pike. These fish are important components of the tribal diet and are used in multiple ceremonial feasts throughout the year. When people eat these fish, they also consume all the methylmercury that has been accumulated through the food chain. (Above) Subsistence harvest of ogaa (walleye) during the traditional spring spearing season. Another mine related contributor to this food chain problem is that the (Left ) Mercury in fish tissue can force tribal members sulfate coming from mining increases to limit the fish they eat or avoid fish altogether. the rate at which the bacteria converts Mines are the largest source of mercury in the Lake Superior basin. mercury to the toxic form that allows it to enter the food web. The combination of mercury and sulfate emissions increase the necessity of fish consumption advisories and may ultimately affect the health of individuals who consume those fish. 56 Metallic Mineral Mining: The Process & the Price

Mercury is not the only element that bioaccumulates in this manner. Like mercury, selenium in fish has created the need for fish consumption advisories intended to protect human health. Disruption to Sense of Place For an Anishinaabe, a mine project can drastically alter a region by changing its aesthetic. Tribal people are particularly sensitive to the visual and acoustic impacts of mining because, as described above, their perspective is focused more on space than time. Geographic locations are not interchangeable, so the loss of a cultural or natural resource in one location cannot simply be replaced with a similar resource in another location. Noise and vibration from blasting and other mining activities can carry for miles and produce decibel levels hazardous to human and animal Map illustrating the viewshed of the Eagle mine headframe. This is the area where tribal members exercising treaty health. Smokestacks, processing plants, rights would be able to see the mine feature. and mine head frames are large structures that can extend well above the tree line These are just a few examples of how tribal ways of life is greatly diminished. and are visible from long distances. Such mining affects the lands and rights of These impacts in turn can translate into features, when constructed in a remote Anishinaabe people. When various impacts on a tribe’s ability to sustain area, can significantly change the local activities, including mining, compromise healthy communities that function in landscape and profoundly affect tribes or destroy natural resources, on harmony with the natural world and are who have important cultural stories reservation lands or in the ceded territory, consistent with Anishinaabe worldviews. relating to their landscape. the ability of native people to support their Mining’s Effects on Anishinaabe Culture 57

The Anishinaabeg prioritize protection of water and believe that without clean water there would not be life. Legal Landscape: 6. An Overview of Mining Law and Regulation

In the US, the mine permit process Mining in the United States is regulated generally is done through the state, but under a combination of state, federal, and various federal permits and agencies tribal authorities. No single mining agency also play a role. Two federal agencies in holds control over all mining operations. particular—the Environmental Protection Similarly, no one body of law provides Agency (EPA) and the US Army Corps a singular regulatory framework for all of Engineers (Corps)—are involved aspects of mining. Mining operations in regulating activities that occur in instead are governed by a patchwork conjunction with mining. The EPA and system of interconnected and sometimes the Corps can play the role of primary overlapping laws, rules, and regulations, decision maker for the federal permits some of which date back to the 1960s and required for a mine project. These agencies 1970s. (While this document discusses the also set environmental standards a mining laws of Ontario, the national laws mining operation must comply with, often Canada as a whole are not examined.) through a program delegated to a state. Which agencies and regulatory The EPA has the ultimate oversight frameworks will govern a mining authority to administer laws and operation depends on the circumstances regulations formulated through federal and geographic area of the individual legislation such as the Clean Air Act, mine. If a mine is located on or near the Clean Water Act, and the National reservation lands, tribal air and water Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The quality standards can apply. The situation Various federal environmental laws and regulations Corps of Engineers regulates and issues is similar in the Canadian province of apply to most mining projects. permits for various types of development Ontario, where various provincial and projects, including mining activities that federal agencies and laws apply to mining impact wetlands and other “waters of proposals. the United States.” Particularly under the 58 Legal Landscape: An Overview of Mining Law and Regulation 59

Clean Water Act (described more fully will apply. The Clean Air Act and the Act: Section 404 of the Act requires a mine below), the Corps’ regulatory authority Clean Water Act are two of the primary operator to obtain a permit before it can is broadly defined. “Waters of the United legislative frameworks in the US that discharge dredged or fill material into States” are defined generally as waterways pertain to metallic mining. waters of the United States, something that capable of supporting interstate commerce The Clean Air Act requires the EPA might occur in the process of constructing and including their tributaries and to develop ambient air quality standards a mine. The Corps of Engineers typically adjacent wetlands. Determining whether is the agency to issue these permits, but the Corps’ authority extends to some Two federal agencies in particular—the the EPA has the ultimate oversight of the isolated waters requires a detail-driven Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Corps’ section 404 permit decisions. The analysis. The EPA has oversight authority the US Army Corps of Engineers (Corps)—are only time the Corps is not involved in when the Corps issues permits under the involved in regulating activities that occur in a section 404 permit is when a state has Clean Water Act (described below). conjunction with mining. The EPA and the Corps been delegated that authority. In these Tribal sovereignty and treaty rights can play the role of primary decision maker for cases, however, the EPA still retains the also have implications for mines proposed the federal permits required for a mine project. ultimate oversight. So far only two states, in treaty ceded territories. Treaties Michigan and New Jersey, have been are the law of the land, and state and as well as standards for hazardous air delegated section 404 permit authority and federal agencies cannot disregard treaty pollutants. Relevant to mining operations, assumed this permitting role. obligations when implementing laws that the Clean Air Act imposes strict standards A myriad of other federal acts regulate mineral development. How those on new or modified sources of air can apply to metallic mining in the rights may affect permitting decisions or pollution and a stringent approval process US, far more than can be described permit conditions is not always clear and for new sources of pollution. in this document. Examples include will depend heavily on the specific facts of The objective of the Clean Water Act the Endangered Species Act (if the a particular proposal. Nevertheless, tribal is to restore and maintain the chemical, operation may impact plants or interests must be taken into account when physical, and biological integrity of the animals that are listed as threatened determining how a mine would impact a nation's waters through the control of or endangered); the Toxic Substance tribe, its treaty rights, and its community. both point and nonpoint sources of Control Act (which requires regulation pollution. The Clean Water Act gives states of chemicals that present risks to health US Federal Laws and the authority to set their own standards, or the environment); the Comprehensive Regulations Related but if a state chooses not to do so or sets Environmental Response Compensation standards the EPA deems inadequate, the and Liability Act (CERCLA) (requiring to Metallic Mining EPA will take action and mandate the reporting of hazardous substance releases The particular circumstances of a water quality standards for that state. and inventory of chemicals handled); the mine project dictate which federal An example of how a metallic mining Safe Drinking Water Act (which directs environmental laws and regulations operation might trigger the Clean Water standards for quality of drinking water 60 Metallic Mineral Mining: The Process & the Price

analysis of the environmental impacts of the project as proposed, but it must also describe the impacts of alternative project plans. The EIS process includes public hearings to allow citizen comments about the proposed action. Federal regulations and guidance require agencies to contact Indian tribes and provide them with opportunities to participate at various stages in the preparation of an EA or EIS. Another important act that may be considered in the issuance of the mining permit is the Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act. If the mine site is on federal or tribal lands Protestors concerned about the Eagle mine project’s effect on water quality demonstrate at the state courthouse in and Native American graves or artifacts Marquette, Michigan. are found, then the construction may supplied to the public, for which states the permitting processes to take a hard be halted. Similarly, if the mine site is are primary authorities); the Migratory look at the environmental impacts of each designated as a Traditional Cultural Bird Treaty Act (protecting nearly all bird proposed project, thereby ensuring that Property (one with significant architecture, species); and the Solid Waste Disposal Act the environmental costs and benefits are history, archeology, engineering, or (which regulates generation, storage and considered in each decision. culture) under the National Historic disposal of hazardous waste and manages NEPA first requires the lead agency Preservation Act, and eligible to be listed solid, non-hazardous waste). to prepare an Environmental Assessment on the National Register of Historic Places, Another federal law, the National (EA) to get a preliminary feel for whether the federal government must consult Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), is the proposed project will have a significant with tribes in order to avoid, minimize, or triggered by any major federal action that impact. If the agency finds that the project mitigate adverse impacts. has the potential to significantly impact may have a significant impact on the the quality of the human environment, environment, it must then prepare an including permitting decisions. NEPA Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). requires the federal agencies involved in The EIS must provide not only an in-depth Legal Landscape: An Overview of Mining Law and Regulation 61 A Brief Overview of permitting. The fee for a nonferrous Mining Laws and Policies mining application is $10,000, but the applicant is responsible for the full of Minnesota, Wisconsin, amount of the Department’s cost to review Michigan, and Ontario the application. For a ferrous mining application, however, Act 1 capped at Whether or not federal environmental laws are triggered, individual states have $2 million the amount a mine applicant their own laws, policies, and regulations must reimburse the DNR for application that apply to mining operations. related costs. Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin all The DNR performs an environmental require permits before mining operations review of the project and advises the commence, as does the Canadian province applicant on what additional mining- of Ontario. related permits the applicant should seek from the agency. The DNR makes Wisconsin law and policy the ultimate decision whether to issue a In 2013, the landscape mining permit. Under Act 1, it must make of metallic mining law a decision on a ferrous mining application changed significantly within 420 days after the mining in Wisconsin with application is deemed complete. For the passage of Act nonferrous mines, the timelines are longer 1, which established and depend on the outcomes of several a separate statutory In 2013, the Wisconsin legislature established a separate steps built into the application process. framework for ferrous (iron) mining. Prior legal framework for the regulation of iron mining. One unique feature of Wisconsin to Act 1, Wisconsin regulated ferrous and law as it pertains to nonferrous mining nonferrous metallic mining in the same For conflicts that arise between other (sometimes referred to as sulfide mining) manner. Act 1 created a new statutory state laws and the new ferrous mining law, is the 1998 Mining Moratorium Law, also framework, setting ferrous mining apart Act 1 declared that the ferrous mining from all other types of metallic mining statute controls the outcome (a change known as the ‘Prove It First’ law. This law and creating a separate, expedited process from previous law and from the current requires an applicant for a nonferrous for ferrous permits and approvals. In nonferrous metallic mining law). mining permit to show examples of addition, Act 1 changed state law to Whether a ferrous or nonferrous mine mining operations in the US or Canada incorporate a presumption that significant is proposed, Wisconsin’s Department that have not polluted ground or adverse impacts to wetlands are necessary of Natural Resources (DNR) is the surface water for at least 10 years during to accommodate ferrous mining activities. agency primarily responsible for mine operations and after closure. 62 Metallic Mineral Mining: The Process & the Price

Michigan law and policy Michigan’s earlier reclamation law, the Minnesota law and policy Michigan also has Reclamation of Mining Lands, still governs In Minnesota, seen changes in ferrous mining under Part 631 of NREPA. ferrous and its mining laws. Michigan’s Department of nonferrous mining Until 2004, ferrous Environmental Quality (DEQ) is laws are a part of and nonferrous the agency primarily responsible for the Minnesota metallic mining mine permitting. The permit fee for a Environmental were regulated nonferrous mine permit in Michigan is Policy Act of 1973, under the same $5,000; there is no application fee for a although additional statutory framework, the Reclamation ferrous mine permit. The timelines for laws relating to nonferrous metallic of Mining Lands law, and Michigan had permit decisions depend on the type of mining were adopted in 1992. Minnesota’s no specific provisions for the mining of mining permit sought. For ferrous mining, newer laws emphasize financial nonferrous metallic minerals. In 2004, the state has 60 days to approve or deny however, due to increased interest in the permit once it deems the application In Minnesota, the primary agencies metallic mining in the State’s Upper accurate and complete; for nonferrous responsible for mine permitting are the mining, the timeline prescribed by statute Department of Natural Resources and the Michigan does not prepare its own can range from four to six-and-a-half Pollution Control Agency. Environmental Impact Statement for a months depending on various aspects of proposed metallic mining project but the application process. assurances, waste characterization, and rather uses one prepared and submitted a thorough environmental review and Michigan is unusual in that it is one of by the mine applicant. permitting process. The state’s policy only two states to whom the Army Corps regarding reclamation focuses on both of Engineers has delegated authority Peninsula, Michigan passed Part 632 of environmental protection and the the Natural Resources and Environmental to administer a section 404 permitting economic value of mining to the state. As Protection Act (NREPA). Part 632 program for discharges of dredged or fill declared by statute, Minnesota recognizes provided new regulations for the mining of material into waters of the United States. the effects of mining on the environment nonferrous metals and set up a permitting Because of this delegation, a potential but aims to provide for the reclamation system to oversee it. Michigan recognizes mine operation in Michigan is less likely of mined lands, control possible adverse in Part 632 that nonferrous mining may to have active federal participation in its environmental effects of mining, preserve be an important contributor to Michigan’s permitting process and may not be subject natural resources, and encourage economic vitality but that it shall only to the National Historic Preservation Act planning for the future of the land. At occur under conditions that assure the or the National Environmental Protection the same time, the state aims to further environment, natural resources, and Act’s requirement for an Environmental “the orderly development of mining, the public health and welfare are protected. Impact Statement. encouragement of good mining practices, Legal Landscape: An Overview of Mining Law and Regulation 63 and the recognition and identification of to the Ontario Ministry of Northern approvals for activities such as the use of the beneficial aspects of mining.” Development and Mines (MNDM), is water and disposal of waste. A Minnesota statute enacted in 2011 to “encourage prospecting, staking and Before a mining project can proceed, imposes a goal upon the Minnesota exploration for the development of the MNDM requires a closure plan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) mineral resources” in a manner consistent prepared by the applicant in which the and the Minnesota Pollution Control with the recognition and affirmation of applicant must certify its compliance with Agency (MPCA) to approve or deny existing Aboriginal and treaty rights, all legislative requirements. environmental and resource management including the duty to consult, and to permits within 150 days of receiving an minimize the impact of these activities on The Role of Tribes and application. These two agencies oversee public health, safety, and the environment. most mining activities in Minnesota and Aboriginal Communities To implement these requirements, the are primarily responsible for approving Mining Act mandates consultations Tribes have extensive regulatory authority the various permits necessary to over their reservations and may have mine. A third agency, the Minnesota regulations that could impact mine Environmental Quality Board (EQB), Ontario's Mining Act mandates consultations development on reservation lands. In is not as involved in the permitting with First Nations at various stages of the process but plays a role in overseeing the process of reviewing a mine proposal. addition, US tribes that have treatment environmental review process. A mine as a state status under the Clean Water permit in Minnesota is required for both with First Nations at various stages of Act or Clean Air Act can enact water or ferrous and nonferrous metallic mining, the process of reviewing a proposal. The air quality standards for the reservation. although the permitting fee differs: duty to consult lies with the government When discharges upstream or upwind of $25,000 for a ferrous mining operation; considering the decision or action that a reservation have the potential to exceed and $50,000 for a nonferrous mine. may impact Aboriginal and treaty rights, those standards, federal statutes prescribe although Ontario encourages mining procedures to ensure that the tribe’s Ontario law and policy companies to establish communications standards are not violated. Ontario’s laws and relationships early on to facilitate the In the ceded territory, states must governing consultation process. take into account tribes’ treaty-reserved mining remained Ontario’s Mining Act outlines the rules rights. States do not have the unfettered relatively and regulations that apply to mining in the discretion to exercise authority over unchanged province. The MNDM is the government natural resource management in ways that throughout agency that oversees mining, but other would be detrimental to tribal treaty rights much of its agencies also have regulatory roles related or violate the court cases that reaffirmed history but in to the legislation they administer. For those rights. States may not legislate 2009, the government promulgated the example, the Ministry of the Environment away treaty rights nor may they defeat Mining Act. The Act’s purpose, according and Climate Change issues permits and them through legislation that negatively 64 Metallic Mineral Mining: The Process & the Price

concerns are not sufficiently addressed by state regulators. Thus, tribes often also pursue consultation with the federal government who, as a treaty signatory, has specific treaty obligations as well as a general trust responsibility to protect treaty rights.

Treaties are the law of the land, and state and federal agencies cannot disregard treaty obligations when implementing laws that regulate mineral development.

As described above, recent amend­ ments to Ontario’s Mining Act recognize and affirm the treaty rights of Aboriginal people, and emphasize consultation in order to minimize adverse impacts. Select Commonalities Native veterans’ color guard at the Wisconsin Capitol prior to the State of Tribes address in 2011. In that address, and Differences in the Bad River tribal chairman Mike Wiggins Jr. explained how a proposed iron mine upstream from the Bad River reservation threatened the existence of Ojibwe people and the natural resources they rely on. Mining Laws and Policies affects treaty resources through habitat by Executive Order, has committed to of Minnesota, Wisconsin, destruction. consult with tribes whether or not a Michigan, and Ontario The US federal government and court has required it. The extent of these the states of Michigan, Minnesota, and consultations depends on the specific Environmental review Wisconsin have obligations to consult statutes or regulations that prescribe when with tribes when they are considering tribes must be notified or consulted, the Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan each actions that may impact the tribes and willingness of the parties to substantively requires an environmental review process their treaty-reserved rights. For individual engage, and the extent of the potential to occur before a mine permit can be states, court cases often prescribe the impacts of the proposed action. It is often issued. Ontario requires an environmental form of that consultation, but each state, the case, however, that tribes feel their review process in some but not all cases. Legal Landscape: An Overview of Mining Law and Regulation 65

Each state process analyzes significant in turn trigger a separate environmental environmental impacts and alternatives to review process. The review process for that the proposed project. This review process individual activity, however, may not be as also discusses mitigation techniques as comprehensive as one that considers the well as the unavoidable economic and mining activity in its entirety. sociological effects on the surrounding The environmental review processes communities. The names vary slightly for mining permits in Minnesota and between the states: Minnesota has an Wisconsin are structured to provide Environmental Analysis Worksheet (EAW) opportunities for public participation, followed by an Environmental Impact and public hearings and informational Statement (EIS); Ontario (when required) meetings are required at certain points in has an Environmental Assessment (EA); the process. In Michigan, the DEQ may Wisconsin requires an EIS that conforms hold public hearings but is not required to. to federal EIS requirements; and Michigan For mining projects in Ontario, the project requires an Environmental Impact proponent must give public notice of the Assessment (EIA) for nonferrous mine producing their own EISs. However, these availability of its closure plan. reviews depend heavily on information Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, and the supplied by mine applicants. Michigan Water quality Canadian province of Ontario all regulate law differs: the DEQ does not prepare its Under US federal laws such as the mining in slightly different ways. own EIA for a proposed metallic mining Clean Water Act, states may take over project but rather uses an EIA prepared the responsibility of promulgating and proposals but does not require an explicit and submitted by the mine applicant. enforcing regulations. States also have environmental analysis document for In Canada, the province of Ontario independent authority to regulate water ferrous mining proposals. As noted earlier, does not generally require a separate quality and mining. As a result of these environmental review neither approves environmental assessment, but one may be combined powers, states often are the nor denies a proposed project; rather, required in some cases under the federal primary regulators of water quality (and its purpose is to analyze and document Canadian Environmental Assessment mining activity more generally) within possible impacts so decision makers have Act. In instances where environmental their borders. complete information before them when assessments are required under provincial In the case of the Clean Water Act, all determining whether to permit a mine. and federal legislation, the governments three states have assumed the authority In Minnesota and Wisconsin, the have agreed to a harmonized process. to set water quality standards. How a state Departments of Natural Resources It should be noted that other activities water body is used dictates how it is perform the environmental review, related to mining—such as air or water regulated; for example, Minnesota has conducting their own analyses and discharges—can require permits which enacted a sulfate standard for “waters used 66 Metallic Mineral Mining: The Process & the Price in the production of wild rice.” Neither Wisconsin nor Michigan has a comparable standard. Laws and regulations The states also differ in their regulation protecting wetlands of groundwater. In Wisconsin, for example, and their functions groundwater standards for nonferrous often differ between mines apply at a predetermined boundary, states, and policies sometimes depend which may be up to 1,200 feet from the on the type of location of the facilities. Monitoring is mining at issue. required within the compliance boundary, and if there is a reasonable probability that standards will be violated at the boundary, the DNR may order the mining operation to take action to remedy the problem. In Minnesota, the location at which groundwater standards apply is determined by the PCA; in general they apply only at the boundary of the mining company’s property. In Michigan, groundwater compliance wells must be located within 150 feet of the mining activity being monitored. Wetlands Many states have both federal and state wetlands that can be regulated in different ways. The Army Corps of Engineers typically has authority if “waters of the United States” (which include many wetlands) will be dredged or filled. As noted earlier, however, Michigan issues permits for wetland activities with minimal involvement from the Corps because it is one of two states with Legal Landscape: An Overview of Mining Law and Regulation 67 delegated permitting authority under the Under federal regulations, a mining For nonferrous mining projects, the use of Clean Water Act. If a mine in Michigan is company must first avoid and next wetlands is presumed to be unnecessary located in a wetland, the state’s Wetland minimize impacts to wetlands before unless particular showings are made. For Protection Act applies, and a permit may it can turn to compensatory mitigation ferrous mining operations, the Wisconsin be issued only if the mining activity is (creation or restoration of wetlands). legislature changed state policy in 2013 to “primarily dependent upon being located Similarly, Minnesota law requires a direct that significant impacts to wetlands in the wetland” and an alternative does mining project to evaluate how to avoid are “presumed to be necessary.” not exist. or mitigate wetland impacts before the In Ontario, no legislation exists specific In Wisconsin and Minnesota, both state will consider allowing it to use state and federal regulators will determine compensatory mitigation to replace to wetlands, but wetlands are indirectly whether to allow a mining project to wetland functions. protected under a variety of provincial and impact wetlands, and if so, how those Wisconsin’s wetland policies vary federal laws that protect other resources wetland functions should be replaced. depending on the type of mining at issue. like water, fish and birds.

Conclusion

Throughout the US, many communities Anishinaabeg would counsel that decisions far beyond the loss of food sources. It are paying the price of unwise decisions must ensure the protection of natural violates the solemn promises made to the related to metallic mineral mining: resources for the next seven generations. Anishinaabeg and goes to the core of what acid mine drainage, heavy metals When mining damages the ecosystems is necessary to sustain them, consistent contamination, and other forms of and environment of the limited land base with what the US has promised. When environmental damage. In the Great remaining for tribes, there are lasting mining projects damage or destroy treaty Lakes region, various projects have left impacts for Anishinaabeg who cannot and resources, treaty promises are broken. environmental degradation in their would not leave their homeland. Treaty rights are legal protections that wakes. Given its full cost, whether to allow Those who determine whether metallic cannot be undermined. metallic mineral mining must be a decision mining can occur in the Great Lakes Indian tribes with reservations and undertaken thoughtfully and using every region inevitably balance a variety of off-reservation harvest rights in the Great available resource. At stake are solemn trade-offs. While new mining technologies Lakes region are particularly susceptible treaty promises to the Anishinaabe people are being developed to mitigate or prevent to the impacts of metallic mineral mining. guaranteeing their rights to use the land. environmental damage, these methods To the Anishinaabeg, the cost of mining is In light of mining’s legacy of necessarily use the natural environment qualitatively and quantifiably different than environmental damage, it is important as their testing grounds. Failures can be the cost to those who make and administer that those who make mining laws, those irreversible and sometimes catastrophic, state and federal mining laws and who administer mining regulations, and and mining disasters continue to occur regulations. Anishinaabe culture mandates those who evaluate metallic mineral in modern times and with alarming respect for the earth and humility and development proposals employ every effort frequency. For the Great Lakes region, an gratitude for the resources it provides. to fully understand the environmental and area so abundant in water resources, the Mining laws not written by tribes come societal impacts of those proposals. To threats of metallic mining are real and from those whose decisions do not reflect carry out their sovereignty as independent potentially devastating. this culture. For the Anishinaabeg, the nations, tribes must be in a position to When mining ventures cause the loss price of the mining process may well be too exercise their authority and have the or contamination of natural resources, dear—a price that goes to the core of this capacity to engage in mining decisions. The it affects Anishinaabe culture in ways nation’s treaty and trust obligations. 68

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Glossary

Acid mine drainage (or acid rock Beneficiation refers to the various regulating discharges of pollutants into the drainage) is produced by the oxidation processes that mines use to separate the waters of the United States and regulating of sulfide minerals. Many metallic ore valuable target mineral from the extracted quality standards for surface waters. bodies contain significant quantities of ore. The beneficiation method a mine uses Under the CWA it is unlawful to discharge depends on the target metal, ore grade, sulfide minerals—often including the any pollutant from a point source into and specific chemical characteristics of navigable waters without a permit. ore minerals themselves. When sulfide the ore. minerals are brought to the surface, Concentration is the process of Bulk sampling they react chemically with air and water means removing material increasing the amount of the target from a potential mine site to obtain and produce sulfuric acid. These acidic mineral in ore by separating it from the site-specific data to assess metallurgical conditions can cause metals in geologic crushed and milled rock. materials to dissolve, impairing water characteristics and the quality and quantity of a deposit. quality when the discharges enter waters Cone of depression refers to a drop used by terrestrial and aquatic organisms. Ceded Territory/Ceded Territories in water levels in the ground resulting Once acid mine drainage has started, are lands in Michigan, Wisconsin from pumping water out of a mine to it is difficult to stop without long-term and Minnesota ceded by Ojibwe (or keep the workings dry. As the cone of treatment. Chippewa) tribes to the United States in depression expands away from the mine, various treaties. In the treaties of 1836, the drawdown can lower the water table in Anishinaabe is an Ojibwemowin word 1837, 1842 and 1854, the signatory tribes that area, meaning area wells may go dry. that means person. Other tribes such as reserved the continued right to hunt, Dewatering refers to the removal of the Cree, Menominee, and Potawatomi fish and gather on the land ceded. First Nations entered into similar land cession water from the mine pit by pumping or also call themselves Anishinaabe and treaties with the Canadian government. evaporation. speak languages closely related to Ojibwemowin. Anishinaabeg is the plural Clean Water Act (CWA) is a federal Drill sludge (or drill cuttings) are of Anishinaabe. act that forms the basic structure for broken bits of solid material brought to 72 Glossary 73 the surface in the process of drilling holes environment, or human health due to their Reclamation is the process of returning during metallic mineral exploration. tendency to out-compete native species. the mine area as close as possible to its pre-mine condition. Reclamation typically Effluent is a liquid that is discharged from Leachate refers to liquid that extracts involves activities such as removing any a mining operation. the soluble or suspended solids of the hazardous materials, reshaping the land, material though which it has passed; restoring topsoil, and planting native Financial assurance is a financial in mining, it typically means liquid that grasses, trees, or ground cover. guarantee, ideally in the form of cash drains from stockpiled material. or an equivalent financial instrument, Riparian means relating to or located on Milling refers to the process of grinding meant to ensure the costs of all mine the banks of a natural watercourse or a or crushing the ore in a mill to create clean-up and remediation activities will river or stream. small sized pieces best suited to mineral be paid. The amount of financial assurance extraction. should be based on a prediction of the Sintering is the pyrometallurgical process of forming a solid mass of metal by heat or mine’s impacts. Ojibwe refers to a group of Anishinaabe pressure. who speak a distinct language called Fragmentation is a decrease in the area Ojibwemowin. The US government of contiguous habitat available to wildlife. Smelting is the process of heating recognized these tribes as “Chippewa” the metal concentrate beyond its during the treaty-making era. Fugitive dust is particulate matter not melting point, typically the final step in emitted from a stack, vent, or hood and Ore is a type of rock containing minerals concentrating a metal that can be sold to includes emissions from haul roads, wind with economically valuable elements, manufacturers. erosion, and exposed surfaces. including metals, that are removed Subsidence refers to the downward through the mining process. Gangue refers to the worthless or motion (or sinking) of a land surface; unusable material that surrounds or is Overburden refers to all materials that in mining, this is most commonly caused closely mixed with a desired mineral in overlie a deposit, including waste rock and when underground mine workings an ore deposit. other materials, which must be removed to collapse, leading to subsidence at the reach the underground ore body. The mine surface. Groundwater is the water located does not process the displaced overburden. beneath the ground surface in soil or rock Sulfate: A negatively charged ion that pore spaces or fractures. Remediate/remediation are terms that can be produced when metal sulfides are generally refer to the environmental clean- oxidized, consisting of one atom of sulfur Invasive species are organisms that cause up of land and water contaminated by the and four atoms of oxygen, SO4. Sulfates or are likely to cause harm to the economy, mining process. are salts of sulfuric acid. 74 Metallic Mineral Mining: The Process & the Price

Sulfide:A form of sulfur that often is product, more economical to transport Treaty rights are rights retained in found in the environment bound to and process into finished goods. treaties that were negotiated between metals. Under acid conditions, sulfide can governments in which tribes sold the convert to hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and a Tailings are the main byproducts of land but did not give up the right to use metal. Oxidation of sulfide produces sulfur the beneficiation process, composed of the land. Treaty rights are not individual or sulfate. rock particles and minerals which could rights but are held and regulated by the not be recovered or have no value along signatory tribes. Sulfide mineral:A class of mineral ore with the water and chemicals used in the containing sulfides, many of which contain Waste rock is the waste produced metals. Common sulfide minerals are beneficiation process. Tailings can be in during mine development, including Pyrite (FeS2) and Cholcocite (Cu2S). a slurry, paste or granular form and must overburden and gangue, and those parts be stored in a reservoir, often a pond or of an ore deposit that fall below the Surface water includes water in rivers, basin. Because tailings range in size from economic cut-off grade. Waste rock is streams, creeks, lakes, and reservoirs and coarse sand to fine powder, their stability usually stored at the surface in large piles can be replenished through precipitation varies depending on their placement and and may contain sufficient sulfide mineral concentrations to generate long term or through the movement of groundwater moisture content. to the surface. acid drainage problems. Tailings basins (also called tailings Taconite is low-grade iron ore, found Wetlands are areas that are inundated ponds or impoundments) typically extensively in the iron ranges of Michigan, or saturated by surface water or ground­ Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Once the are large facilities or systems used to water at a frequency and duration taconite ore is removed from the ground, isolate tailings and tailings water from ­sufficient to support vegetation typically it is concentrated into pellets slightly the surrounding environment. They adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. smaller than a marble. The pellets (also may contain acidic water and elevated Wetlands generally include swamps, called taconite) are a concentrated iron concentrations of toxic elements. marshes, and bogs. Notes 75 76 Metallic Mineral Mining: The Process & the Price