Posted on 05/05/2005 11:37:36 AM PDT by quietolong
Northern Wisconsin Tribe Hopes To Avoid Foreclosure On Mine Purchase
Updated: 8:55 AM May 5, 2005
A northern Wisconsin Indian tribe that helped to buy the site of a proposed zinc and copper mine at Crandon two years ago, shutting down the disputed project, is trying to raise eight million dollars for a mortgage payment on the deal.
Sandra Rachal is chairwoman of the Mole Lake, or Sakaogon Chippewa band, and she says if the payment on the mortgage note held by an Australian metals company isn't made by next April's deadline, foreclosure could occur.
But she also says tribal officials think things will work out and the payment will be made ... or at least they hope so.
Part of the fund-raising effort involves selling silver-dollar shaped samples of mine borings from the project for $30.00 each. The tribe calls the samples a symbol of environmental damage prevented by the purchase.
The Mole Lake Chippewa and Forest County Potawatomi bought the mine site in October of 2003. The Potawatomi paid cash for its share of the 16-point-five (m) million dollar purchase.
I doubt it. They should look to the "casino" tribes for money...not the US money tree.
So...the Indians bought the mine to shut it down and "prevent environmental damage" ?
It's somewhat ironic that those who originally 'owned' the entire country and subsequently were forced into more undesirable locations are now in the position of having to pay money to people who live on another continent because of mineral wealth beneath it.
And now they'll have to sell it to ......?????? to pay off that mortgage. Sometimes it's not the environment that smells.
What ever gave you the idea that they "owned" the country?
If the zink & copper ore exist, it could be a valuable boost to the tribes. What the heck are they saying about selling chips of the drill bore material ?
The indians LOVE silver and copper....always have but they don't like to "work" mines. That's our job. I'll wait and see but the indians aren't going to give it up. I'd guess "Mining Rights" might be one of the cards up their sleeve.
Indians make up almost the complete roster at some western coal mines. Its heavy equipment operation, not backbreaking work by any means.
The skilled, professional Journalists are likely talking about drill core which is the product from diamond drilling where a core sample (about 1" in diameter but can vary) is taken so the explorations geologist can see just what is at what depth in the ore body.
Personally, this old miner hopes the tree huggers get spinters in their . . . whatever.
I have a background in coal and have seen plenty of core boxes. Was this a working mine when the tribes bought it ?
The concept of land ownership wasn't part of their culture. However, the concept of mining definetely was. Hundreds of tons of copper was mined in that area over thousands of years.
Copper...that's got some real value to it.
I only know what is in the article but it says proposed so I assume they were in the permit stage somewhere.
The Chippewa did this properly - if you don't want to see land developed, buy it.
The fascists at the Sierra Club would've gone left wing judge shopping and ordered him to make up a law out of thin air to shut it down.
Wisconsin has had several small mining operations that did well but didn't last long. A small copper play at Ladysmith back in 1990 comes to mind.
That was why I put the marks around 'owned'. They didn't have such a concept but tribal homelands were and are very dear to native peoples even if they no longer live on them.
The article mentions an Australian metals company which always makes me think of BHP who bought up Magma Copper, where I worked for many years. They have a lot of "cheap" production cost copper properties and would likely keep any USA property off the market to possibly help their margin.
The article is poorly written, but it looks like they bought a chunk of land that was destined to be mined, for the purpose of shutting down the mining operation and saving the environment from the evil miners.
For this reason, I hope that they lose their collective shirts.
Absolutely correct.
Ancient miners travelled to this area eons ago and mined copper, especially along Lake Superior.
When the white miners moved in here around 1840 they found huge copper boulders elevated on wood platforms on the bottom of open pits. In these pits were found stone hammers, wooden ladders and other tools. These tools, especially if made of copper, fetched high prices on the antiquities market in the 19th century.
As near as can be determined, these ancient miners travelled here for summer and never set up permanent encampments. To this day who these ancient miners were remains a mystery. However, copper from this area has been found in other pre-Columbian cultures all the way down into Central America.
Archeologists are working an ancient site in hopes of finding out who mined copper here. The "Ontonagon Boulder," believed to be worked for copper by these ancient miners, is on display at the Smithsonian. Tool marks can be clearly seen.
Wisconsin's legislature hand in hand with the "environmental" types and some of the nearby Indians have year by year put legal requirements on it that stopped it from development--
What stopped it from being mined was the envio wako's fighting it every step of the way. The owners finaly gave up trying to get it permited and basicly were force to sell out to the tribe.
Every summer for several years when I was back to Wisconsin on vacation , the state legislature was in the process of adding a bunch of environmental restrictions which were aimed at the Crandon orebody although not by name , of course---
--last year, the tribe was proudly announcing that "the mine is dead"---
I don't understand this. The only way the Indians could not want this mine is if they have a load of income from another source. I didn't think Mole Lake, etc., had much going, casino-wise.
Some of the tribe has brought into the mother earth BS and the 7th generation BS. They still think that if they act more indian Uncle Sammy will keep sending them more and more money so they will not need a mine.
It makes no economic sense--it's a great mineralization--copper-zinc very high grade---
They do have a casino...and it looks like they have a couple of them. Don't worry....They'll wind up mining the stuff one way or another.
I live very close to Crandon and I am opposed to the mine. Not that I'm a tree hugger by any means, but for the simple fact that once the ore was mined, the damage to the surrounding area (including the pristine Wolf River) would be damaged beyond repair. There has never been a CYANIDE mine on this scale which hasn't done extensive damage. The Mole Lake Tribe are one of the poorest tribes in this area. Their casino brings in only enough to cover their overhead. I am glad to see the Potowotami give 8 million. I hope other tribes can help them out.
The area is truely magnificent to live in.
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