Sierra Club Responds to Passage of the Mining Give-Away Bill

"The State Senate voted 19-14 tonight to approve Senator Tiffany’s controversial Mining Giveaway bill that repeals Wisconsin’s landmark Prove It First law for mining and further guts protections to benefit a single foreign mining company - Aquila Resources - while endangering the resources that northern Wisconsin’s tourism and agriculture depends on.  Every GOP Senator except for Sen. Cowles voted for approval despite strong statewide public support for keeping the Prove It First law in place. 

 

Dave Blouin, State Mining Chair said, "This vote shows which state Senators want to line the pockets of a foreign mining company and its investors and shareholders and those who value long-term sustainable development for central and northern Wisconsin.  The Senators voting for this transparent special interest bill have thrown a legislative Hail Mary pass in their desperation to look like they are job creators.  These Senators ignored the fact that sulfide mining remains a highly polluting and damaging industry that has failed to live up to its claims.   They failed their duty to protect Wisconsin taxpayers by allowing foreign companies easy access to our mineral resources while leaving only destruction behind.  This law will not result in prosperity for northern Wisconsin and threatens the natural resources that are the foundation of sustainable jobs from tourism, agriculture and our outdoor heritage.” 

 

Aquila Resources and another foreign mining company, Keweenaw Copper, have acknowledged each helped draft the bill.  Aquila Resources has conducted recent advanced exploration in Wisconsin at two identified deposits (“Reef” in Marathon County and “Bend” in Taylor County).  The company has stated that gold ore mined at the Reef deposit could be shipped to and processed using cyanide at its proposed Back Forty mine processing plant in Michigan along the Menominee River.