Latest news, weather, high school sports for Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

MARQUETTE COUNTY -- As you drive closer to Aquila Resources Back 40 Project, you can't help but see the signs against their mine.  But that's not stopping Aquila officials, who continue to explore their sulfide ore body.

"We also have a program to look for similar kinds of deposits on a regional basis," said Aquila Senior Geologist Bob Mahin.

Although it's highly unlikely all of the exploration sites will become mines, the U.P. is still a hotspot for activity.

"There are mineral deposits like a string of pearls all along this mid-continent rift," said Babette Welch with Save the Wild U.P.

If the prices of metals stay high, it will only make mining companies more determined to set up here.

"If something is in great demand, like uranium, and the price is very high, I don't see how you're going to stop that from happening," said N.M.U. Professor Russ Magnaghi.

Mining officials seem optimistic that they'll be drilling in Upper Michigan for years to come.

"Over the next 10 years, you could have a handful of new mines that are out there that could come into production,” said Kennecott Project Manager Jon Cherry.  “I don't think it would be a whole lot different in terms of mining activity than where the U.P. was 50 or 100 years ago.  There were a lot more mines 100 yeas ago than today."

"I think you're going to see a few more mines in the U.P.  You might see as much as maybe a thousand new mining jobs," said Tom Petersen, President of Citizens for Responsible Mining.

Michelle Halley with the National Wildlife Federation shares a different vision for the future.

"Maybe the future of the U.P. isn't in mining jobs, and that's ok,” Halley said.  “There are plenty of other jobs that are in existence now in the U.P. and others that we should be actively seeking and creating."

But if more mines are drilled here, some fear they will change the image of the U.P. forever.

"I really see that we've got about five years, and the character of the U.P. could be gone,” Welch said.  “The open space, the wild lands...and it could be replaced by all the fencing, the industrial space, the trucks, the noise."

It's still unclear which or how many of these mines will locate here.  It's also debatable whether it's for better or worse.

But it seems certain that, as the demand for precious metals increases worldwide, 21st Century prospectors are intent on launching another era of mining in the Upper Peninsula.

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Watch more Digging In  

Links of interest:
Kennecott Eagle Project
Aquila Resources
Prime Meridian
Bitterroot Resources
Save the Wild U.P.