Plans For Upper Peninsula Mine Resurrected

MILWAUKEE (AP) - A Canadian company has renewed interest in developing an open-pit mine in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, not far from the Wisconsin border.

Aquila Resources Inc. recently filed an application to build a mine along the Menominee River, which divides Michigan from northeastern Wisconsin and flows into Green Bay. Regulators in Michigan held their first public hearing on the application last week and the several hundred people attending were divided on their support or opposition to the mine.

The Menominee Indian tribe, based in Keshena, Wisconsin, has expressed concern about environmental damage and the mine's impact on burial grounds and other historic cultural resources. Wastewater would be treated and discharged into the Menominee River.

The Journal Sentinel reports Aquila Resources plans to invest more than $300 million to extract gold, copper, zinc and silver from the site.

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