Lake Superior Mining News

“After three years of studying the application and related documents my original opinion has not changed, but I would add a conclusion that either the writers and all of the reviewers were not experienced and competent in mining and geology, or that their intent was to deceive, to ensure that permits would be issued without delay. Maybe both.” – Jack Parker

Marquette, MI – Kennecott Mineral’s Eagle Mine application is incompetent, at best, and fraudulent, at worst.  That according to mining expert Jack Parker.

In a new thirty-three page report, entitled KEMC Eagle Project:  A Fraudulent Permit Application?, Parker outlines  several, but not all, of the major problems with the underground portion of the company’s mine application.  In part, according to Parker, the project, (formally approved by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) in 2007 following delays associated with the suppression of documents critical of the mine’s design), was designed using “doctored” data, a “misinterpretation” of surficial geology and rock stress, and lacked reference to applicable mine case histories and a “sound mining analysis to prevent the mine from collapsing.”

Click the following link for Jack Parker’s report. . .“KEMC Eagle Project: A Fraudulent Permit Application?”

“After three years of studying the application and related documents my original opinion has not changed, but I would add a conclusion that either the writers and all of the reviewers were not experienced and competent in mining and geology, or that their intent was to deceive, to ensure that permits would be issued without delay. Maybe both.”

Describing himself as “for” mining, Parker began working in the British coal mines in 1946, leaving in 1954 to work on a new copper and nickel mine on Hudson’s Bay, in Canada.  Since obtaining degrees in geology, mining and geological engineering from Michigan Technological University, Parker has taught mining courses, produced numerous technical and popular mining publications, and worked for ten years at the White Pine copper mine, spending seven of those years directing the mine’s practical rock mechanics program.  Since 1974 Parker has worked as a well-respected independent mine consultant, on hundreds of projects in the United States and abroad.

Parker urges what he calls “responsible” mining and considers Kennecott’s plans to leave much of the metal at Eagle in the ground even if the mine becomes operational to be an “irresponsible recovery of the resource.”

“I think that the Eagle Project has a wonderful ore body and it, and all neighboring prospects, should be mined, but mined responsibly,” said Parker.

While the Eagle Mine is embroiled in controversy and has been “deferred” by Kennecott’s parent company, Rio Tinto, the project, if it became operational, would produce primarily nickel and copper, along with undisclosed amounts of precious metals.  Opponents fear that the mine could produce “acid mine drainage,” a phenomenon common at most operations where metals are present in the form of sulfide minerals.  If exposed to air and water, some sulfides create sulfuric acid, and cause problems for water quality, fish, and public health.

In September 2008, Norway said acid mine drainage is “considered one of the most serious mining-related environmental problems across the world.”  Previously one of Rio Tinto’s largest shareholders, Norway divested $890 million from the company last year, calling operation of Rio Tinto’s Grasberg Mine, in West Papua, “grossly unethical.”

Kennecott has not received any final permits through the State of Michigan for the Eagle Project.  The US Environmental Protection Agency has yet to make a proposed decision on whether or not to approve requests to inject over 180 million gallons of treated wastewater a year into underlying aquifers.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 8th, 2009 at 3:23 am and is filed under Eagle Mine, Kennecott-Rio Tinto, Law, Michigan, workers. 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.