For Immediate Release: Sierra Club Files Aquila Resources Complaint

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  December 8, 2020
CONTACT: Dave Blouin, Mining Committee Chair, 608-220-4040

Sierra Club Files Aquila Resources Complaint

Madison - The Sierra Club has documented that mining company Aquila Resources Inc. has been conducting business in the state of Wisconsin without a valid registration as a foreign corporation as required by state law.  The company’s registration was revoked on Oct. 21, 2015 by the WI Department of Financial Institutions for failing to file annual reports and pay fees. Documentation shows that Aquila Resources has conducted business in multiple instances from 2015 through at least 2019 despite the revocation. 

The Sierra Club requested that the WI Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) and the WI Department of Justice (DOJ) investigate Aquila Resources’ apparent violation of state law.  Under state law, Aquila cannot continue to conduct business until it pays all outstanding fees, a fine, and must reapply for authorization to conduct business as a foreign corporation.   In addition, the state Attorney General is authorized to enforce a foreign corporation’s obligation to the state for what is owed.   DFI and DOJ staff responded to the complaint that their respective agencies have no investigative authority over citizen complaints while acknowledging that the DOJ does have enforcement authority. 

Aquila Resources is attempting to gain permits to mine a mineral deposit in the state of Michigan and either controls or owns two mineral deposits in Wisconsin in Marathon and Taylor counties. 

“This complaint shows that Aquila Resources can’t be trusted to follow Wisconsin law.  Will Aquila Resources respect Michigan law if it gains permits for the Back Forty mine proposal in Michigan along the Menominee River?  Michigan and Wisconsin residents along the Menominee River and downstream now have more reason to doubt the promises of this company,” said Dave Blouin, State Mining Committee Chair. 

Documentation supporting the complaint includes:

• Multiple instances of Aquila Resources staff meeting with Wisconsin county officials to discuss exploration and testifying at county meetings in Taylor and Marathon counties. 
• Aquila Resources hired a Madison lobbyist and reported lobbying expenses in support of mining deregulation legislation in 2017-18. 
• Aquila Resources is a client of the mining industry public relation firm and lobbyist Natural Resources Development Association (NRDA), formed in 2018.  The NRDA conducted public relations on behalf of Aquila Resources in 2018-19.  
• Aquila Resources has maintained a state mining exploration license renewed annually since 2011. 
• The company conducted aerial mineral surveys in Taylor, Price, and Lincoln counties in the summer of 2019. 
• It opened an office in Schofield, WI (Marathon) county in 2018. 
• It has applied for federal Bureau of Land Management prospecting permits for land on the Chequamegon Nicolet National Forest in Taylor County for which it has submitted support documentation as recently as spring of 2019.