WHITE PINE, Mich. (AP) -- A way of life dating back more than a century appeared over in Michigan's Upper Peninsula when the last copper mine closed in 1995, idling more than 1,000 employees and turning this once-thriving company town into a forlorn outpost. Now a Canadian company is planning a new mine at the site a few miles from Lake Superior, where screeching gulls hover over empty buildings and parking lots are littered with broken glass. If Highland Copper Co.'s plans go forward, the area will be astir once more as underground ores are blasted, hauled to the surface and crushed at a mill to extract valuable minerals. White Pine's impending rebirth is almost miraculous to local residents who have borne the brunt of its demise, but it's part of something even bigger: a surprising resurgence of a mining industry that once was an economic pillar in three Upper Midwestern states but has been in serious decline. In the past few years, at least six open-pit or underground mines have been proposed or started in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin, the first such ventures in decades. Additionally, four new Minnesota operations are using refined technology to extract iron from waste rock mined long ago. Other companies are exploring the region's ample deposits of iron, copper, nickel and other metals, which have become more marketable because of improved technology and rising demand in the U.S. and China. "I thought there was no way it was ever coming back," said Dan Kessler, who was 34, married and the father of two young children when the White Pine closure left him jobless. Now, he says, if the project comes through, "I'd like to see the schools open again." The developments are causing planners to reconsider their strategies for the region, which had focused on finding a new economy to supplement old land-based industries. Some are concerned about the earlier era's legacy of toxic waters and denuded forests. "A potential step backward," John Austin, director of the nonprofit Michigan Economic Center, said of mining, unless the operations can be held to rigorous standards. Some planners want to concentrate on developing a "blue economy" based on clean industry and responsible use of fresh water. |