Eagle mine

MARQUETTE – Eagle Mine officials at a virtual community forum on Thursday detailed aspects of closing the mine in about four years.

Eagle Mine, located in Michigamme Township and owned by Lundin Mining, is the only primary nickel mining project in the United States and also produces copper and small amounts of other metals. The expected mine life is until 2025.

“Planning for mine closures, as an industry standard, happens many years in advance,” said Jen Nutini, environmental superintendent for Eagle Mine. “This is essentially an upside down construction project, so it requires that level, that rigor, of planning.

Nutini said the mine’s permits require reclamation plans to be submitted, so officials are now working out more details on how those plans will be put in place.

Five basic elements, she noted, are taken into account in planning for the closure: environment, safety, employees, suppliers and community benefits.

Nutini said the Eagle mine is now in the planning phase until around 2023, when other actions, such as specialist contractors executing their part of the closure plan, will begin. The reclamation process should then begin after the mine closes.

“I like the word recovery because we are recovering the earth”, said Nutini.

According to Nutini, the first step in this process would take around two years and would involve actions such as demolition, flooding of the mine and water treatment.

The second step, she said, would include stabilization efforts such as monitoring what vegetation has been planted.

“All the surveillance we carry out during operations continues until post-closure”, said Nutini, who pointed out that some activities could take five to 10 years after the mine closes, and that there would still be a mine presence, at this point, until 2052 for certain types of monitoring .

Nutini said mine officials hope to provide examples and more specific aspects of the closure plan in future community forums.

Other topics were discussed during the forum, including the economic impact.

Matt Johnson, director of external affairs for Eagle Mine, spoke about the mine’s 2013 economic survey.

“The reason we did this economic impact study is to better understand what happens to the local economy when you build a new mine, like Eagle,” Johnson said. “One of the community concerns in the Eagle licensing process is the boom-and-bust economy that mining could potentially bring to the community, and was it really worth it? “

In 2013, Eagle Mine published a predictive study regarding the economic impact of the mine on Marquette County, which is “important” in the county area, Johnson said.

He pointed out that mining accounts for about 3% to 4% of employment in Marquette County, and this includes the iron ore operations of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. The percentage of wages that mining supplies in the county rises to 15%, he said, and given the taxes and dollars invested in contractors and property to keep the mines operating, overall mining production in the county is by 22%.

This year, the mine partnered with Michigan Tech University and Business for Social Responsibility to work to understand the real economic impact of Eagle Mine on the local economy, he said. This study is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2022.

“It helps us understand who are the local organizations and small businesses, for example, or the local communities and schools, that benefit the most from Eagle who also need to better understand what life is like and what this transition is like. after Eagle “, Johnson said.

To help ease the transition of supply dollars that vendors have in the community, Johnson said the mine created Accelerate UP, the goal of which is to diversify the economy away from mining; an Eagle Emerging Entrepreneurs Fund, which provides “Micro-loans“ communities that would otherwise not qualify for traditional business loans; and is involved in a college program to help high school students enter skilled trades while they are still in high school.

Eagle Mine General Manager Darby Stacey addressed recent safety activities at the mine, noting that the mine recently received the National Mining Association Safety Sentinels Award.

“It’s the most prestigious mining safety award in the United States, and we’ve won it, in fact, two years in a row, for 2019 and 2020.” Stacey said.

Johnson said the next community forum is scheduled for May.

Christie Mastric can be reached at 906-228-2500 ext. 250. His email address is [email protected]