Mining company hoping to grow in the U.P.

WHITE PINE — Officials from Highland Copper Company say they are opportunistic about the chance to mine in the Upper Peninsula.

According to CEO and President Denie Miville–Deschenes, the company has been testing samples of copper from a site near the Porcupines Mountain Wilderness Park. And they like what they’ve seen so far.

“Well certainly when we look at Copper Wood at this point we’re very optimistic about Copper Wood,” said Miville–Deschenes. “After that 15 month feasibility study, ideally we’ll have the permit to get into construction right away.”

They are currently working on a feasibility study to see how much copper is in the site and how can it be safely and efficiently mined.

“We learned that there is copper there, basically, and good quality,” said Carlos Bertoni, vice president of Highland Copper Company. “We know to know what mass, how many tons of material we have and what’s the quality.”

After a month of work Bertoni says they have outlined around thirty million tons of rock that have an average of one point 6 percent copper.
Officials from the company say they estimate around three–hundred jobs will be created by the directly by he mine.

However, Miville–Deschenes said that three or four times that many jobs will come from stores, contractors and other organizations supporting the mine.

Additionally he said that the company hopes to grow in the Upper Peninsula and want to close on property around White Pine and begin looking for other locations.

“We will at the same time work the White Pine Project, do scoping study, define the approach of this one,” Miville–Deschenes said. “That’s gonna be our grow plan once we put Copper Wood in production.”