Wisconsin is now primed for mining. Signing the “Mining for America” bill in Rhinelander, Governor Scott Walker noted the historic role of the industry here. “We should be able to do safe, environmentally sound mining in state like Wisconsin that’s the Badger state,” Walker said. “And in doing so, it’s one more reason to keep students like the ones we saw here today, and others, in the state of Wisconsin.”
Walker voted to impose the so-called mining moratorium when he was in the state Assembly in 1998. That made it unfavorable for companies to prospect here, but Walker said that will change now. “There were even some here today that are interested,” he said.
“Our state has a rich mining history that predates our statehood, yet for the last twenty years the miner on our flag has been stuck in the unemployment line,” said state Senator Tom Tiffany (R-Hazelhurst) in a statement. “Today, Governor Walker put him back to work. With the signing of the Mining for America Act into law, a multi-billion industry has been invited to come back to northern Wisconsin.”
Critics maintain sulfide mining for gold and copper poses serious risks to ground and surface waters.
