MADISON – Mining exploration may begin as early as this summer in central Wisconsin, at at least one deposit located in the Chequamegon Forest.
Steven Donahue, a board of directors member for GreenLight Metals, said the company has secured permits for the drilling and is working toward financing the efforts. The company has also started meeting with local governments around the Chequamegon Forest, engaging and explaining how the exploration will work and what will happen.
“We want to operate in a way that’s transparent to the public,” he said. “That’s a key goal for us.”
The Bend deposit, located within the Chequamegon National Forest, is about 19 miles north of Medford. It was discovered in 1986 and first drilled in the 1990s. It contains copper, gold and silver, totaling an estimated 4.23 million tons of ore that would be accessed via an underground mine.
The company got permission from the DNR to start exploration in 2023, but so far has not started the process of drilling holes to sample for metals. The company has gone through changes in the last several years, including a change in the CEO. The company went public on the Toronto Stock Exchange this week, which is common for mining companies.
GreenLight is primarily searching for copper and zinc, as well as some precious metals in Wisconsin. There are also potentially deposits of tellurium, a key metal used in manufacturing solar panels. If a mine does open in the area, it will be primarily to source metals for clean energy, in addition to making sure the supply chain is secure with the ongoing trade talks with countries like China.
He estimated that the exploration would take about four to five years to complete, before the company would look into permitting an operational mine.
Before it gets to that point, there will be lots of public engagement and opportunities for the public to see what’s going on at all the sites. Donahue said there will also be a focus on protecting the environment. The regulations in Wisconsin are rigorous, and aimed to protecting the environment both during mining and after.
“All the activities that we’re conducting are highly regulated and are all geared towards protecting of those critical resources,” he said. “Which we as a company share that goal of protecting those resources.”
And even if a mine were permitted at the Bend Deposit, there will be detailed environmental reviews, and plenty of opportunities for people to learn more about mining.
“There are very detailed environmental review and environmental studies that are done on virtually every aspect of the surrounding environment. An important component of that is the water resources, but it’s also all the ecosystems. It’s the engineering of the project, it’s how the project is going to be closed and reclaimed, and how it’s going to be able to protect the environment, not only during construction and operations, but also after it’s closed,” he said. “All those facets of a project would be evaluated by the state.”
GreenLight also holds the mining rights to the Reef deposit in Marathon County, just outside Wausau. The company is also looking at exploring that deposit, as well as others Donahue did not share information about.
Previously, another company explored the Bend and Reef deposits in 2011 and 2012, but since then no further action was taken, partially due to a mining moratorium in Wisconsin in place until the state Legislature overturned it in 2017, renewing interest in mining in the state.
Laura Schulte can be reached at leschulte@jrn.com and on X @SchulteLaura.
