MARQUETTE COUNTY -- The Ingham County Circuit Court has ruled in favor of Kennecott Minerals on one of the contested permits for its proposed mine on the Yellow Dog Plains.

The court ruled that the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality properly issued an air quality permit for Kennecott's planned Eagle Mine.  The air quality permit was the subject of a legal challenge by mine opponents.

But Kennecott still has other legal hurdles to clear before it can open the mine.  A separate challenge of the DEQ's issuance of a wastewater discharge permit and a mining permit is still pending a decision by a state administrative law judge.

Kennecott also needs an EPA groundwater discharge permit before it can open the mine.  That permit has not been issued yet.