Exploratory copper and gold drilling coming to Taylor County

RHINELANDER, Wis. (WJFW) – There have been no active sulfide mines in Wisconsin for decades. But a mining moratorium was repealed by Governor Scott Walker in 2017. Since then, there has been some exploratory drilling, and the DNR recently approved another mineral exploration. The Canadian mining company GreenLight Metals was recently cleared for drilling in Taylor County’s Bend Deposit, which is believed to contain around 4 million tons of gold and copper. While many environmental advocates say this poses a danger to drinking water in the area, one member of their board of directors says this could be a major step in the United States becoming more self-dependent in its acquisitions of essential minerals.

“We are very confident that we can conduct exploration activities and design a mine project that will be protective of the environment,” said Steve Donahue, a Greenlight board member.

GreenLight Metals is set to go public on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Monday and are excited about how going public can speed up exploratory drilling in Taylor County. Environmental advocates say that mining of sulfide ores, especially copper, can pollute rivers and groundwater for hundreds of years. Donahue, however says things like the Clean Air and Water Acts, along with Wisconsin’s strict mining laws, allow for two things to be achieved in this state and country.

“Protect the environment and responsibly develop our natural resources,” Donahue said. “Which we need to do so we’re not so beholden to adversarial countries for supplies of things like copper and other critical elements that we need for our economic life.”

Environmentalists worry that mining copper ore can generate acidity that could leach onto rain water. But Donahue says the mining regulations in Wisconsin won’t allow for that to happen.

“It’s true that developing these types of projects can generate things like waste rock and tails,” Donahue said. “Which if not managed properly – which is what the standards in the state require – can generate acidity when rainwater passes through it that would leech metals.”

Donahue says that drilling, known as the exploration stage, will likely continue for the next three to five years before being able to present an environmentally sound project for the DNR Review process – an indication that the actual mining is still a long way off.

“That permitting process is very, very rigorous and it’s designed to protect water resources – which is a goal that we share as a company,” Donahue said. “And we know that those technologies and requirements work because they’ve been applied on other projects that were very successful.”

In a statement to Newswatch 12, The River Alliance of Wisconsin, an environmental advocacy group, said: “This type of mining always pollutes water and shouldn’t be permitted in a water-rich environment like the North Fork of the Yellow River.”