Lake Superior Mining News

Humboldt Township, Michigan – Jon Cherry, Rio Tinto’s Eagle Project Manager, presented the company’s plans for the Humboldt Mill to a packed crowd at the Humboldt Township Hall on January 12, 2009, but steered away from questions about likely pollution.

Rio Tinto is a “good company that operate[s] to the same level of safety and environmental standards worldwide, regardless where we’re operating,” Cherry said.

But University of Wisconsin, La Crosse sociology professor and mining expert Al Gedicks disagrees.

“A company’s track record in other places is one of the best predictors of future behavior,” said Gedicks. “If decision-makers in Michigan choose to ignore this record, they are setting themselves up to join the long list of communities burdened with cleaning up Kennecott’s mine pollution.”

Many others also disagree with Cherry’s claims. In September, 2008, the Government of Norway (formerly one of Rio Tinto’s largest shareholders) divested from the company, citing “grossly unethical” environmental abuse at the Grasberg Mine, in West Papua. Additionally, at Grasberg, the Australian Council on Overseas Aid found mine security and military personnel were responsible for the “disappearances” of 22 civilians and torturing of 13 others between 1994 and 1995. Rio Tinto acknowledged paying the Indonesian military $4.7 million in 2001 and $5.6 million in 2002 for its services.  Citizens of neighboring Papua New Guinea are suing the company, under the Alien Tort Claims Act, alleging that Rio Tinto created extensive environmental damage at its Bougainville mine, paid Black workers less than white counterparts and instigated a civil war.

Cherry made no mention of such past history or pending lawsuits.  Instead, he compared Rio Tinto’s Humboldt plans with former milling at the site. According to Cherry, Callahan Mining Company’s Ropes Gold Mine and Humboldt Mill “operated rather successfully,” and Rio Tinto’s proposed milling process is “the exact same process that Callahan and the Ropes Mine used.”  Rio Tinto is not “proposing to do anything at the Mill that hasn’t been done before,” Cherry said, and the company “can probably do it a little better.”

Some Humboldt Township residents were unconvinced, since Callahan’s mill left part of the community with undrinkable well-water. “When Callahan was there they ran all their water out of the pit and ruined all of the wells on the Wolf Lake Road,” said Ron Norkoli. He told Cherry to “find another way to put that water other than through my backyard.”

Cherry was unable to explain which toxic chemicals were planned for the milling process. “Without having the applications opened up right in front of me I can’t tell you exactly which ones those are,” he said. But he assured the audience that the company’s water treatment “will meet the State-required standards for mercury.”

According to Cherry, the process at Humboldt would involve crushing 12-inch or smaller-sized rocks down to a sand, or talc, consistency.  The powder would then be mixed with water and placed in tanks and agitated. Alcohol and compressed air would assist in creating a froth, while chemicals would be added to cause the metals to attach to bubbles, which would be skimmed-off the top and de-watered. Waste material would be deposited underwater, into a pit on-site. The company plans to discharge treated wastewater into wetlands that feed into the middle branch of the Escanaba River.

According to documents obtained through an open records request, the Michigan DEQ believes mercury discharges may be a serious issue at the mill site. Says the DEQ: “There are no proven technologies to consistently achieve [a] low level. . . Mercury would likely be a major concern to the public and environmental groups.”

Most public comments that evening focused on the importance of jobs and local economic investment. One man, from Mohawk, Michigan, argued that the Keweenaw Peninsula “was founded and raised on copper mines. It was the best thing that ever happened to our area. When the copper mines closed, it was a ghost town.  We need jobs, we don’t need tree huggers.”

One Humboldt resident cited Cliffs Natural Resource’s layoff of over 300 workers, saying: “We had jobs and now we’re losing them.”  Pointing at a group of citizens that expressed disapproval of Rio Tinto’s plans, he said, “Yous want to take everything away from us.”

Others say that we should not have to trade worker and community health for jobs. Skandia Township resident Barb Bradley told the crowd that she has been struggling for years to find a good job but cares more about the health of our water than short-term jobs.

“I’m looking at the picture ahead and future generations . . . Will they have clean water to drink?” questioned Bradley. “That’s more important to me than a few jobs.”

One Republic Township resident said he was “glad” numerous interests were involved in creating Michigan’s new metallic sulfide mining law and that the legislation “protects every one of us.”

“We live in a beautiful area and we need to protect it. If they can build it safe, we need the jobs; let’s do it and let’s do it safe,” he said.

One Humboldt resident insisted that Rio Tinto is “doing everything by the law.”

Marquette resident Teresa Bertossi disagreed, saying she participated in the rules process as an unpaid concerned citizen. According to Bertossi, a local iron miner helped cover her expenses to attend the rules meetings. “Whenever we would try to get some strong parts into the rules,” Bertossi said, “they [Rio Tinto] would threaten takings lawsuits against the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.” (A “takings” lawsuit means that a company that is denied access to their resources may sue the state for the value of those resources. This law remains untested in Michigan.)

Richard Hendricksen, also from Marquette, agreed with Bertossi.  “There was not a consensus in the rules,” he said.

According to Cherry, Rio Tinto is proposing to produce both nickel and copper concentrates at the Humboldt Mill. The product would “most likely” be shipped via rail to smelters in Canada. The waste material, containing heavy metals and acid-generating material, would be deposited underwater at the mill site, on top of Callahan’s tailings. Rio Tinto plans to use the mill to process ore from multiple mine sites. In November 2007, Rio Tinto Copper CEO, Bret Clayton, told a group of Australian investors that the company has six project areas in the UP, in addition to the Eagle Project. According to Cherry, he is optimistic that the company will locate additional ore bodies and maintained that the Eagle Project “is just the beginning.”

While the Humbolt Mill project is by no means a done deal, Rio Tinto hopes to receive final Michigan DEQ approval in July.  Ultimately, the people of Humboldt will decide the fate of the old Humboldt Mill by voicing their opinions.  Concerned citizens are encouraged to write their local, county, and state officials with their comments and questions and to request access to clean drinking water. Citizens are also encouraged to contact their healthcare professionals for more information about the risks of mercury.

London-based Rio Tinto, ,parent company of Kennecott Minerals,  currently controls roughly 500,000 acres of mineral rights on public and private land in the Upper Peninsula. The company’s largest shareholder is the People’s Republic of China. As of this writing, China is seeking an even larger stake in the company.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 10:28 pm and is filed under Eagle Mine, human rights, Kennecott-Rio Tinto, Michigan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.