Pro-mining group forms

Sulfide mining can be performed safely in the Upper Peninsula without damaging the environment, according to a recently formed pro-mining organization.

Citizens for Responsible Mining, the brainchild of Ishpeming brothers Tom and Gary Petersen, hopes to better educate the public about the process of sulfide mining, Tom Petersen said.

”The rhetoric I was seeing from anti-mining groups, it bothered me because they were saying things that just weren’t true,” he said. ”The two of us decided we needed to set the record straight and get the truth out there for the public.”

Both Petersens come from a mining background ”” Tom is a retired general manager at Cleveland Cliff’s Empire Mine, while Gary is a mining engineering consultant based in Ishpeming.

About 50 people have joined the organization so far, Tom Petersen said.

Citizens for Responsible Mining has launched a Web site, www.citizensforresponsiblemining.org, and has posted several articles, including its mission statement, the values of mining to society and an overview of sulfide mining.

Kennecott Eagle Minerals Company has proposed a sulfide mine on the Yellow Dog Plains near Big Bay.

Petersen has already spoken to the Upper Peninsula Labor Council on behalf of the organization, and plans to make a presentation soon to the Lake Superior Community Partnership. He also plans to advertise his organization in The Mining Journal, he said.

”That’s what we’re up to ”” just trying to dispel a lot of rumors and mis-truths put out there that have put mining in a bad light,” he said.