Map of the area around the Copperwood Mine | DNR
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State funding for a controversial copper mine in the Upper Peninsula has been held up.
For the second time this year, the state Senate Appropriations Committee did not vote on tens of millions of dollars for the Copperwood Mine.
The Canadian company Highland Copper is hoping to build the underground mine near Lake Superior and the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park.
The Michigan Strategic Fund board, which is tasked with economic development and job creation, approved a $50 million state grant for the mine earlier this year. And last week, the House Appropriations Committee voted to advance that funding.
At a meeting on Wednesday, the Senate committee, chaired by Sen. Sarah Anthony (D-Lansing), decided on the other funding separately, approving hundreds of millions of dollars for Dow Chemical Company in Midland, a computing facility in Washtenaw County speareaded by the University of Michigan and Los Alamos National Laboratory, and a Detroit Diesel Corp. engine plant in Redford Township.
But they did not vote on the grant for Copperwood.
A spokesperson for Anthony’s office said in an email that “there was insufficient support for the legislative transfer in committee and there were attendance issues.”
Groups opposing the project praised the outcome, calling it a victory.
“The people of Michigan spoke loud and clear that using state funds to assist in the development of a mine that could harm the Great Lake Superior, a beloved state park and community water supplies is not how state funds should be used,” said Jill Ryan, executive director of the Petoskey-based organization Freshwater Future, in a news release from the group Protect the Porkies.
They cheered the Appropriations Committee’s inaction on the funding.
Despite the setback, Highland Copper officials remain hopeful. CEO Barry O’Shea said they believe the opportunity for the grant won’t expire at the end of the year.
“The Senate will act when they choose to act,” O’Shea said. “From our perspective, it’s just a matter of time, stepping into the new year and continuing to educate the Senate.”
The $50 million, which would come from the state’s Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve Fund, would go toward infrastructure upgrades for the mine, like roads and utilities.
Highland Copper has said it will invest $425 million in the mine, and while the grant would be important, O’Shea said, it’s “not a do or die.”
The state Senate adjourned for the year on Friday.