There is no reason a copper- nickel mine couldn’t open in Ely. That’s the opinion of State. Rep. Roger Skraba (R-Ely) after a mine tour in Michigan.
“It’s an underground mine and it’s been operating for 12 years, so for the prove it first crowd, it’s been proven. It’s a wet environment. It discharges into a creek that goes to Lake Superior,” said Skraba.
“Every month, the Michigan monitoring, what they do to monitor the mines, they send three people down in the hole to make sure everything is good.”
Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board members, staff and five elected officials recently participated in an educational tour of Eagle Mine and Humboldt Mill in Michigan.
The visit provided an opportunity to learn about modern non-ferrous underground mining and mineral processing operations, from mining methods, workplace safety and environmental management to milling, transportation and the technologies used throughout the operation.
“It’s a wet environment over there. If I took you and blindfolded you and then took the blindfold off you would swear you were in northern Minnesota. It’s the same ground, the same water, the same ledge outcropping. It’s identical,” said Skraba.
He was joined on the tour by Rep. Josh Heintzeman (R-Nisswa), Sen. Kerri Heintzeman (R-Nisswa), Rep. Cal Warwas (R-Eveleth) and Sen. Rob Farnsworth (R- Hibbing) “It absolutely can be done here. They take the rock they don’t use and crush it and add cement to it. They fill the hole with natural rock and some cement and it encapsulates everything,” said Skraba. “They know the rules. They understand them. They’ve met and exceeded the permits. It’s amazing. It truly is.”
The tour began at Eagle Mine near Michigamme, where participants received an overview of the mine’s operations, safety practices and mining methods.
The group then traveled to the Humboldt Mill in Champion, where they observed how ore is processed into separate nickel and copper concentrates before shipment.
The Eagle Mine began production in 2014 and is the only operating nickel mine in the United States, producing nickel as well as copper and cobalt.
The nearby Humboldt Mill has a long history in Michigan’s mining industry, originally constructed by Cleveland-Cliffs in the 1950s to process iron ore before later processing gold ore.
Following refurbishment and reclamation, the facility resumed operations in 2014 to support production from Eagle Mine.
Earlier this year, Talon Metals acquired Eagle Mine and Humboldt Mill. The company also has a proposed mining project near Tamarack, MN, adding a local connection to the educational tour.
“They have a road from where the rock is taken out of the earth and it gets put into a building and separated. The good make it to a truck that’s covered and it goes 66 miles to Humboldt, Michigan, and they put it in like we have at our mines, the crusher,” said Skraba. “They sent it through their process and float all the minerals out. Then they put it into a rail car, a rail car that’s covered and it’s railed to Sudbury, Ontario where the actual copper and nickel is made.”
In addition to touring Eagle Mine and Humboldt Mill, participants visited two of Marquette’s notable ore docks.
The group stopped at the historic Lower Harbor Ore Dock, an iconic waterfront landmark that once played a vital role in shipping iron ore from the region’s mines to steel mills throughout the Great Lakes region.
Today, the preserved structure is a popular destination for residents and visitors while serving as a reminder of the region’s rich mining and maritime history.
The group also visited the active Presque Isle Ore Dock, where iron ore pellets from Cleveland-Cliffs’ Tilden Mine are loaded onto Great Lakes freighters for shipment.
Cleveland-Cliffs operates several iron ore mines on Minnesota’s Iron Range, highlighting the longstanding connections between Michigan’s and Minnesota’s historic mining regions.
Both regions share a rich mining heritage, with communities and economies that have been shaped by iron mining for generations.
Eagle Mine offers free public tours that provide visitors with an opportunity to explore the operation and learn about the region’s mining history. Additional information and tour reservations are available at www. eaglemine.com/tours.
