We are pleased to welcome you to the Wisconsin Mining Association. Wisconsin’s citizens, businesses and elected representatives are currently faced with unique opportunities to strengthen our state’s economy and create tens of thousands of good-paying, multi-generational jobs as we revive mining in Wisconsin and revisit our state’s mining heritage. The Wisconsin Mining Association's goal is to protect and promote those businesses that support the mining industry globally and assist those businesses  interested in creating jobs in Wisconsin through mining—- from iron ore, to sand, to gold, to copper—- navigate through the regulatory challenges, communication needs and information-sharing opportunities during this critical juncture in our state’s history.
Why should we care about mining?

Wisconsin’s citizens, most of their jobs, the state’s economic wellbeing and its quality of life depend on mining, most of it now done in places other than Wisconsin.

Think for just a moment about the things that touch our daily lives that would not be here were it not for the mining industry.  The building that we are sitting in, electricity for the lights, the chairs and tables that we are using, the  transportation you use everyday, whether it be public transport, automobile or bicycle, the clothes on your back, even the food that you eat could be not planted, nurtured or processed without implements and systems derived from mining.

The far greater challenge, quite honestly, is to try to think of something that we use and/or depend on that is not dependent directly or indirectly on mining. So, if you work in Wisconsin as a scientist, an auto mechanic, a farmer, a manufacturer, a lawyer, or an environmental activist and you use a car, a piece of equipment, a computer, a telephone, or want utilities to use air scrubbers — somebody, somewhere is mining something that you depend on.

That is why it is strategically critical that our country control our destiny by putting our own natural resources to work rather than depending on other countries. The simple fact of the matter is that without the exploration and extraction of our own natural resources, we will become tied to the whims and demands of foreign producers. As a country, we are blessed with vast resources of oil, natural gas and coal in the energy sector as well as iron ore, copper, zinc, phosphate, molybdenum as well as gold and silver in the industrial minerals sector.  We should be utilizing our own vast resources, maintaining our political independence, while creating much needed high-paying jobs in our own country
What does mining mean to Wisconsin?

Wisconsin is home to significant mineral deposits that could generate literally thousands and thousands of jobs and significantly enhance our economy.

The miner on our state flag is a testament to the fact that the lead mines of southwestern Wisconsin provided some of the earliest jobs in our state and a commercial basis for the founding of our state.  Profitable, family-supporting, job-creating iron mining existed in western and northern Wisconsin throughout much of the 19th and well-into the 20th century. And, Wisconsin’s successful Flambeau Mine mined copper, gold and zinc between 1991 and 1997.

Today, some of the richest mineral deposits in our country lie buried under Wisconsin and thousands of good jobs are buried there with them. Everyone is familiar with the estimates that suggest that the Gogebic iron ore deposit alone could generate more than 3,000 good-paying jobs in the Iron and Ashland counties area. Wisconsin is also endowed with known deposits of zinc, copper and gold and prospective deposits of nickel. How many jobs are waiting in those sites?

These projections are not wishful thinking. If you want to see how ore deposits can be turned into good jobs, a stronger tax base to support schools, communities and roads, all you have to do is look at our neighbors Minnesota and Michigan. In Minnesota, iron mining contributed $1.8 billion to the economy and produced 15,000 jobs. Taxes payable in Minnesota in 2008 equaled $148.7 million. Distribution of those taxes included $56.9 million towards Minnesota’s education—$45.8 million to K-12 and $11.1 million to the University Trust Fund. In Michigan, mining contributed $1.7 billion to the economy and produced over 27,000 jobs.
Wisconsin’s mining laws need to be changed now.

Wisconsin’s current mining laws do not reflect either the technological advances developed and implemented in the mining industry during the past quarter of a century or the regulatory advances that now serve as best practices in the United States and elsewhere.

Like human fingerprints, every square inch of the earth is unique. No shovel of dirt is the same. Every strata of rock is different…and no two mines are exactly like.

There are, of course, wide areas that are similar, but each unit of measure from ounce to ton is distinguishable from the next. From the spade turned by the gardener, to the cornrow hoed by the farmer, to the boulder removed to widen a freeway, specific content will be different and characteristics can change dramatically in only a few feet.  

Regulatory authorities from Minnesota and Michigan to Papua, New Guinea know this and, when it comes to mining, understand that it is impossible for any two mines to be the same. It is why they require extensive drilling and core sampling in a relatively tight pattern before a mine can ever be permitted. It is why they demand Environmental Impact Statements that enable them to appropriately customized permits for every mine.

Wisconsin has chosen to ignore the geological reality that shapes the permitting and regulation of mining directives elsewhere around the globe. Here, rather than acknowledging that no two mines can be the same and demanding appropriate regulations to address the differences that exist, Wisconsin’s current law requires that a mining company demonstrate that its proposed mine will be the same or similar to a mine that operated for a minimum of ten years and that has been closed for ten years. Such requirements are not a regulatory framework. Nor are they simply a moratorium — which the dictionary defines as a suspension or delay of activity. Rather, Wisconsin’s current law is, for all practical purposes, a ban on mining and investors around the world have recognized it as such by refusing to invest in our state.

The Wisconsin Mining Association believes strongly in comparing proposed mining methods with methods used in past mines. We also believe that technology has advanced greatly during the past few years and mining companies should not be held to a standard that is outdated and impossible to meet.   
Resources

U.S. State Mine Regulatory Process Analysis Draft Report by Behre Dolbear (11/29/12)
Tim Sullivan, Chair, Wisconsin Mining Association Senate Select Committee on Mining Testimony (11/29/12)
Virtual Tour of Gogebic Range Hosted by Leslie Kolesar