Comparison of Flambeau Mine to New Mines Proposed in Great Lakes Region

A chart comparing basic characteristics of the Flambeau Mine to the proposed NorthMet/PolyMet and Twin Metals mines in Minnesota and the proposed Back Forty and Copperwood mines in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is shown above. To download an electronic copy of the chart, please click on the image or click HERE.

A chart comparing basic characteristics of the Flambeau Mine to the proposed Tamarack Mine in Minnesota is shown below. To download an electronic copy of the chart, please click on the image or click HERE.

For a fully-referenced side-by-side comparison of the Flambeau Mine (Wisconsin) and the NorthMet/PolyMet proposal (Minnesota), please click on the following link:

• PolyMet Decision : The Flambeau Factor, Laura Gauger, Nov 2015 (updated Apr 2017).

For various comments submitted to state and federal officials regarding the PolyMet project that draw on comparisons between PolyMet’s proposal and the Flambeau Mine, please click on the following links:

• Addendum: Comments Submitted to Minnesota Pollution Control Agency regarding draft permits for the proposed PolyMet mine, Laura Gauger (Deer Tail Scientific), March 15, 2018.
• Comments Submitted to Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and Minnesota Department of Natural Resources regarding draft permits for the proposed PolyMet mine, Laura Gauger, February 8, 2018.

• Comments on NorthMet Mining Project and Land Exchange Final Environmental Impact Statement – and – Objection to NorthMet Land Exchange Decision, Laura Gauger, December 4, 2015
• Evidence on the Flambeau Mine for: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Minnesota Department of Natural Resources RE: NorthMet Mining Project and Land Exchange Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement, Laura Gauger, March 2014.

The following report compares Minnesota groundwater rules for metallic mining to corresponding rules in Wisconsin. It was drafted with the PolyMet project in mind, but its findings also apply to the Twin Metals proposal:

• Minnesota Rules 7060.0800 and 7060.0500 and how they are “playing out” at PolyMet, Laura Gauger, September 2016.

For a set of Flambeau-related slides submitted to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to aid in their review of the Back Forty Mining Permit Application, please click on the following link:

• Environmental Degradation at Wisconsin’s Flambeau Mine – A Cautionary Tale for Michigan Regulators, Laura Gauger (Duluth, MN), October 2016.