The mine will be built in stages starting with a water treatment facility
MARQUETTE COUNTY -- It's a controversy that has divided Marquette County for years.
A nickel and copper mine that will bring hundreds of jobs in the area, but could also damage the environment, according to some activists. Native Americans have protested silently out at Eagle Rock near the mining site; others have demonstrated loudly in downtown Marquette.
Still, it now appears that the mine will be built, and for unemployed construction workers in the U.P., that could be very good news.
Kennecott Eagle Minerals Community Relations Manager Matt Johnson says, "Construction will be done by local contractors in the area, and so most of the jobs produced over the next three years, approximately 500 jobs within the different stages of the mining project, will be from, and provided by, local contractors."
Local contractors are already working on what is a temporary core-shed building, which Kennecott will use for its exploration activities. Elsewhere on the mining site is where the pre-construction is happening, with major construction scheduled to start later this year.
Contractors are placing bids to be part of the multi-million dollar mine construction project.
The mine will be built in stages, starting with a water treatment facility, followed by all surface facilities, which must be finished before all of the underground operations can begin.
Two companies, A. Lindberg and Sons and Holli Forest Products, are already working at the site, and others will soon follow, according to Kennecott officials. Workers interested in applying for the construction jobs can visit the Eagle Mine website.
As for the mining operation itself, that won't start for at least three years, and that's when the permanent mining employees will be hired. Kennecott will employ more than 200 people at both the Eagle Mine and the soon-to-be-refurbished Humboldt Mill.
Lake Superior Community Partnership CEO Amy Clickner says, "It’s very important to...a different time in the state of Michigan and in the Upper Peninsula, a great time for new jobs, not just sustaining jobs, but also the construction jobs that come in advance of the actual job creation."
Kennecott has guaranteed that at least 75 percent of the workers will be local. That should boost our languishing economy, but for at least the near future, it's not likely to quell the protests and the concern for the U.P.'s environment.
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