“This purchase has been rumored for some time.  The fact that the Connor family has purchased the site is not surprising news to those of us who have been following the Crandon mine story.  What is new, is the statement that the Connor’s will attempt to go forward with BHP Billiton’s effort to actually mine the site.” 

"This is the 6th company since 1993 to own the site," observes Dave Blouin of the Mining Impact Coalition.  "I'm not surprised that a new company has bought it, but it won't change our approach one bit."

CONTENTS

• 04/28/03: DNR is Asked to Suspend Mine Review
• 04/18/03: Concerned Citizens Call Upon Governor to Reopen Talks to Buy Mine Site
• 04/16/03: New owners of proposed mine looking for mining company for partnership
• 04/12/03: Crandon mine site gets new owner
• 04/11/03: Forest County Potawatomi Community Reaction To Connor Purchase of Crandon Mine Site,    Wisconsin lumber company buys Crandon mine property,   Crandon Mine Project Sold To New Owner
• 04/10/03: Breske Applauds Purchase Of Crandon Mine By Northwoods Business

April 28, 2003

DNR is Asked to Suspend Mine Review

Representative Spencer Black has asked the DNR to immediately suspend processing the application for a mining permit for the proposed Crandon mine until questions about the mine’s new ownership and its mining plans are answered.

“The sale of the Crandon mine raises basic questions about who owns the mine, how they are planning to operate it, and whether they have the resources to implement their plans,” Black wrote in a letter to DNR Secretary Scott Hassett. “The DNR should halt consideration of the Crandon permit until the new owners provide full and complete information to the state.

“I was very surprised to read news accounts last week that the DNR is continuing the permitting process. Inertia on the part of DNR staff is not alone a reason to continue the mining permit evaluation in the presence of key unanswered questions,” Black said.

Logger Gordon Connor announced he was buying the mine from Nicolet Minerals’ Australian parent company, BHP-Billiton, earlier this month.

“State law requires complete disclosure of all the owners of a mine seeking a permit so that a background check can be conducted of their environmental record and their ability to implement mine plans,” Black said.

Black cited three major issues raised by the Crandon mine’s sale which would need to be answered before processing of the mine permit application can be resumed:

1. The state’s “bad actor” law requires the DNR to consider a mining company’s past record of safety and environmental compliance at other mines. Mr. Connor has said he has spoken to two mining companies about operating the Crandon mine. The DNR needs to establish whether the as yet unnamed partner company is qualified under the bad actor law to operate a mine in Wisconsin.

2. Because Mr. Connor and his company have no experience in mining, there is no assurance that they have the ability to follow through on the mining plan submitted to the DNR or that they have the financial ability to meet their obligation to clean up any environmental damage caused by the mine. The same questions will apply to whomever Mr. Connor’s unnamed partner turns out to be.

3. It is unclear whether Mr. Connor plans to follow the filed mining plans, including the use of up to 20 tons of cyanide a month at the Crandon site. In one news account, he claimed that operating the mine without cyanide was “a possibility” but, “We can’t show all our cards on day one.” In order for the DNR to process the application in accord with the law, Mr. Connor will have to indeed “show his cards” about the mining process his company plans to pursue.

“If the DNR continues to spend staff time processing the application without full disclosure by the reported new owner, then valuable state employee time will be wasted and the public will be shortchanged,” Black wrote Hassett.

April 18, 2003

Concerned Citizens Call Upon Governor to Reopen Talks to Buy Mine Site

Representatives from local government, environmental groups and tribes called upon the Governor today, asking him to reopen talks to discuss the public purchase of the proposed Crandon mine site.

"We are calling upon Governor Doyle to reopen talks on the public purchase of the land near the headwaters of the Wolf River. By protecting this nationally recognized river we open the door to sustainable development in the Northwoods. We want use, not abuse, for this special area. A mine is clearly not a logical option. Numerous mining companies have already tried and failed to mine this site," said Claire Schmidt, mining campaign director for Clean Wisconsin.

The groups called attention to the importance of tourism to Wisconsin's economy, and the negative effect mining can have on the tourism industry. Especially in the current hard economic times, short term economic benefits are simply not worth risking the health of Wisconsin's clean air and water and $1.2 billion-plus tourism economy.

According to data from the Wisconsin Department of Tourism, mining can only create a fraction of the jobs that tourism has created. See below or the attached graph for more information.

The groups also questioned the motives behind the recent purchase of the mine site by the Northern Wisconsin Resource Group. Noting that the new owners are already seeking outside mining partners, the concern was raised that the Northern Wisconsin Resource Group may become a front for another multi-national corporation moving into Wisconsin under the blanket of a Wisconsin family business.

Zoltan Grossman of the Wolf Watershed Education Project observed, "The Crandon mine project is not a home-grown operation. Because the new owners lack the considerable financial resources and expertise needed to open and run a mine, they are looking for a multinational corporate partner. It appears at this point the new owners would serve as a local facade to front for this new corporation. They have been and are already working with the mine's ex-CEO, Dale Alberts. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss."

Grossman added, "The Connor family has been an investor in this project since the beginning. It's such a risky investment that I just don't know who they think will become a partner in such a doomed project"

Nashville Town Chairman Chuck Sleeter stated, "The Northern Wisconsin Resource Group has used the same strategy as all the former mining companies who have tried to develop this project. The only strategy of mining company executives has been to go out and get a pair of blue jeans, work gloves for the back pocket and a plaid shirt. Then they go to local meetings trying to portray themselves as one of the 'good old boys.' Now they don't have to look like "good old boys" because the multinational mining partner has already found someone that will do that for them."

The global mining industry views Wisconsin as a risky investment because of the public's strong opposition to mining in the Northwoods. The Vancouver-based Fraser Institute annually ranks all mining countries, states and provinces with an Investment Attractiveness Index, as a service to the mining industry. Wisconsin has generally ranked at or near the bottom because of the public's strong environmental and economic concerns about mining in the northern tourist region.In 2003, Wisconsin scored only 13 out of 100 possible points, making it the lowest-ranked political unit in the entire world. (For more information see http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/fraser2003.gif )

"The world's largest resource corporations seem to have decided that public opposition is too strong to open a metallic mine in northern Wisconsin. Exxon, Phelps-Dodge, Rio Algom, BHP, and Billiton all tried to open the Crandon mine, but failed and gave up. If these professional mining companies could not assure the skeptical northern Wisconsin public that the mine would not pollute, then what other multinational would want to jump in? This latest purchase may be the last gasp of the Crandon mine project," said Schmidt.

"We have been treating this whole ownership issue as if nothing has changed, we will continue to fight to protect our precious resources forever no matter who we have to deal with. We will protect our seven generations and the next generation will protect their seven generations and it will never stop!" said Sokaogon Chippewa Vice-Chairwoman, Tina L. Van Zile

Comparison between mining and tourism jobs:
200	Jobs created by the mine (source: Gordon Connor)
22,081	Tourism jobs created in Counties surrounding Forest County
39,813	Tourism jobs created in Counties containing the Wolf River
61,894	Total from both sets of Counties

April 16, 2003

New owners of proposed mine looking for mining company for partnership

CRANDON, Wis. (AP) - On a billboard just outside this tiny town in northern Wisconsin is the evidence of the political controversy the new owners of a proposed underground zinc and copper mine bought right along with some 5,000 acres of land.

There's a skull with crossbones on a silver container emblazoned with the word cyanide.

"Cyanide kills fish, mammals and tourism. Change the loophole in mining laws," reads the billboard erected by the Forest County Potawatomi Tribe, a vocal opponent of the mine.

Asked whether the mining project he bought can be done without cyanide, Gordon Connor Sr. of Northern Wisconsin Resource Group LLC, the new owners of Nicolet Minerals Co., didn't hesitate to answer.

"It is a possibility," Connor said in a recent interview. "We can't show all our cards on day one."

Connor said he knew his company would face strong opposition when it bought the mine last week, but he will show people it can be run without polluting the surrounding area.

"We have had decent relationships with the tribes over the years," Connor said. "We plan to have a dialogue with them."

Critics have long contended the project was too risky because it would harm the environment. Supporters say the mine would create badly needed jobs in Forest County.

Northern Wisconsin Resource Group, a subsidiary of Nicolet Hardwood Corp. of Laona, bought Nicolet Minerals and its rights to 4,850 acres, including the mine site south of Crandon, from BHP Billiton of Melbourne, Australia, in a deal announced last Friday.

No terms of the sale were given.

Nicolet Minerals has been seeking the needed state, federal and local permits to mine 55 million tons of ore from the site just south of Crandon since 1994.

Connor's family operates Nicolet Hardwood, which raises hardwood timber for its lumber and flooring business. Connor said he has been interested in buying the mining project for 15 years.

The Connor family follows some big names in the mining industry _ Exxon, Rio Algom and BHP Billiton _ who owned the project, which has been on the drawing boards since the 1970s.

Connor, 65, promised he would have plenty of patience in developing what he called a world class mineral deposit.

"As long as the grass will grow and the wind will blow," he said. "We have been here a long time. We have seen a lot of politicians come and go."

Connor said he was negotiating with established mining companies to create partnerships for the mine, which would cost $200 million to construct once the required permits are obtained.

"We have had some serious conversations with two," Connor said. "We are trying to find the best fit for us. Both of these companies are excellent companies."

Connor declined to disclose the companies' names.

His son, Gordon Connor Jr., 37, said there should be no illusions that the project's new owners are miners.

"We are not proposing that a lumber company is going to mine it nor are we proposing that we have the kind of resources to pour into a mining project," he said. "Do you think we are going to send our loggers down underground to become miners all of a sudden? No."

Laura Skaer, executive director of the Northwest Mining Association in Spokane, Wash., said the Connor family purchase has kept the project alive and will garner interest in possible partnerships.

"Mining is an entrepreneurial business," Skaer said. "I think you are going to find some smaller companies or a group of mineral professionals who will say, 'I don't have mines in Mexico and Peru and Chile and Canada that I have to weigh this one against.' "

And with the contraction that occurred in the mining industry in recent years, there are many qualified people looking for work, Skaer said.

Chuck Sleeter, chairman of the Town of Nashville Board and a strong critic of the mine, said he will remain skeptical that the Connors' purchase will change anything until a mining company joins the project.

"We have to find out where they are getting this expertise from and what their history is environmentally," Sleeter said. "It could be the same-o, same-o, with a different figurehead. We have to find out who is going to be digging the hole."

Jim Cease, 73, of Crandon, said if the Connor family can make the mine a reality, "fine and dandy."

"I don't think people are paying that much attention to the dang thing to tell you the truth," Cease said as he sat in his pickup on Crandon's sunny main street. "For the past 15 years, this mine business has been up and down, up and down. This whole thing is nothing but politics. They will probably get it up and running and then maybe sell it. You would do the same thing."

Crandon mine site gets new owner

CRANDON — The new owners of a proposed underground zinc and copper mining site in northern Wisconsin pledge to forge ahead with the project.

Northern Wisconsin Resource Group LLC bought Nicolet Minerals Co. and its rights to 4,850 acres, including the mine site just south of Crandon, company owner Gordon P. Connor said Friday.

“It is a good project,” he said. “It can be done in a manner that is great for Wisconsin and northern Wisconsin. ... We are going to push as hard as we can to get this permitting done. They have been dilly-dallying around with this thing for a long time.”

The company did not disclose a sale price.

Nicolet Minerals, a subsidiary of BHP Billiton of Melbourne, Australia, has been seeking the needed state, federal and local permits to mine 55 million tons of ore since 1994.

The mining project has been for sale since September 2002. Several companies have owned the site since minerals were discovered there in the 1970s.

Connor, whose family also operates Nicolet Hardwood Corp., of Laona, said he has been interested in buying the mining project for 15 years.

Critics have long contended the project was too risky because it would harm the environment.

The mine can generate 200 jobs, Connor said.

“We want to see the area participate economically in the 21st century,” he said. “We are concerned about the environment.”

Dale Alberts, a spokes-man for Nicolet Minerals, said he will continue as part of the project’s management group.

The permitting process, which they believe will take 2 1/2 years, will continue as is because Nicolet Minerals is not changing, he said.

But Gov. Jim Doyle said the company may have to start the process over with the state Department of Natural Resources.

“What this means, I think, it’s really too early to tell,” Doyle said. “I’ve said all along my great preference is there not be a mine there. I think it’s better for the economic health of the state to make sure that we really protect the environment.”

Nicolet Hardwood raises hardwood timber for its lumber and flooring business. It owns more than 30,000 acres in northern Wisconsin, much of it in Forest County, Connor said.

The Connor family is the lone investor in the mining project so far, but others have expressed an interest, including people from Wisconsin and other Midwestern states, Connor said.

Dave Wilson, president of the Crandon City Council, said the purchase caught him by surprise because many people thought the mining project was dead.

“I think it is good news because we have somebody who is going to see this through to the end,” he said.

The Forest County Potawatomi American Indian tribe has been among the critics of the mining project. Tribal officials said the Connor family has no mining experience, and their company’s financial capability was unknown.

“BHP Billiton is the world’s largest mining company with net assets of $22.5 billion,” tribal Attorney General Jeff Crawford said in a statement. “We do not understand how the world’s largest mining company with all if its might cannot develop this mine but the Connor family is going to be able to safely extract minerals in this environmentally sensitive area at the headwaters of the Wolf River.”

Dave Kunelius, DNR mining outreach coordinator, said the agency expects to tell the company soon it has all the necessary data. Once that happens, the DNR has four months to complete a draft environmental impact statement.

That would be followed by months of meetings and public hearings before a final decision is made, Kunelius said.

The history of a proposed mine dates back to July 4, 1975, when drilling discovered an ore deposit in Forest County. The deposit is estimated to be 60 million tons of zinc, copper, lead, gold and silver ore.

Mining interests have since spent more than $145 million related to the project, according to company officials.

The Forest County Potawatomi Community
P.O. Box 46 Crandon, Wisconsin 54520
For Further Information Contact:
Tom Krajewski 608-259-1212 or 414-405-1047

 

Forest County Potawatomi Community Reaction
To Connor Purchase of Crandon Mine Site

Milwaukee, WI:  Forest County Potawatomi Community Attorney General released the following statement today in response to the Connor family purchase of the proposed Crandon mine site: 

“This purchase has been rumored for some time.  The fact that the Connor family has purchased the site is not surprising news to those of us who have been following the Crandon mine story.  What is new, is the statement that the Connor’s will attempt to go forward with BHP Billiton’s effort to actually mine the site.” 

“BHP Billiton is the world’s largest mining company with net assets of $22.5 billion dollars.   We do not understand how the world’s largest mining company with all of its might, can not develop this mine, but the Connor family is going to be able to safely extract minerals in this environmentally sensitive area at the headwaters of the Wolf River.”

“FCPC has retained over 20 environmental and mining experts that have all raised significant concerns with the Crandon mining proposal. We look forward to having the Connor family respond to our reports that raise numerous questions about the safety of the proposed mine.  In fact, this purchase confirms the concerns we have been expressing to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACOE) for months.  Namely, how can the permit process continuing when the experience and financial capability of the new owners is unknown?  To our knowledge, the Connor family has no mining experience.”

Wisconsin lumber company buys Crandon mine property

Crandon - A northern Wisconsin company said Friday it has purchased the firm that owns the land and mineral rights to the proposed site of an underground zinc and copper mine.

Northern Wisconsin Resource Group LLC announced the purchase of Nicolet Minerals Co. on Friday but gave no sale price, The Rhinelander Daily News reported.

Nicolet Minerals, which owns the land and mineral rights of the proposed Forest County mine site, has been up for sale since September 2002.

BHP Billiton of Melbourne, Australia, is the parent company of Nicolet Minerals, which since 1994 has sought state, federal and local permits to mine 55 million tons of ore from a site just south of Crandon.

Critics have long contended the mining project was too risky because it would harm the environment. Supporters say the mining can be done safely and would create badly needed jobs in Forest County.

Northern Wisconsin Resource Group is owned by the Connor family, which operates Nicolet Hardwood Corp. of Laona.

Gordon P. Connor said the decision to buy Nicolet Minerals is consistent with his family's involvement in natural resource-based industry for the past century.

"Underground mining of zinc, copper and lead can be conducted in an environmentally safe manner," Connor said. "We will work out a plan to process the ore that meets our stewardship responsibly and safeguards the North Country. It will also bring much needed economic opportunity to the region."

Nicolet Hardwood currently owns the timber rights to property and other forest land in northern Wisconsin.

The company expects to have 200 jobs at the mine site once it receives the necessary permits, which it hopes to get within 2 1/2 years.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has continued to work on the permitting process for the mine site.

Dave Kunelius, DNR mining outreach coordinator, said the agency expects to tell the company soon it has all the necessary data. Once that happens, the DNR has four months to finalize a draft environmental impact statement.

That would be followed by months of meetings and public hearings before a final decision is made, Kunelius said.

The history of a proposed mine dates back to July 4, 1975, when drilling discovered an ore deposit in Forest County. The deposit is estimated to be 60 million tons of zinc, copper, lead, gold and silver ore.

Mining interests have since spent more than $145 million related to the project, according to company officials.

Crandon Mine Project Sold To New Owner

New Wisconsin company intends to seek mining permits

A new Wisconsin company has purchased Nicolet Minerals and the Crandon mine site from the world's largest mining company, BHP-Billiton.  The Northern Wisconsin Resource Group announced the purchase and has indicated its intent to proceed with the Crandon mine permitting process.  The move ends speculation that a state-private partnership might purchase the site as a natural area for protection of the Wolf River watershed.

The new buyer is a recently formed company that has no experience in the mining industry.  Gordon Conner, the president of the firm, cites his family's background in timbering and land stewardship for the past 130 years in northern Wisconsin as a primary asset.  "We can bring in the proper experience and people," Conner adds.

If all goes according to their plan, Conner suggests that they will receive a mining permit for the Crandon deposit in 2 1/2 years.  "It certainly isn't imminent," he notes.  "We have to work closely with the DNR to push this permitting process along."

Others are more skeptical.  "We've got a lot of questions," says Tom Krajewski, an attorney for the Forest County Potawatomi, a long time foe of the Crandon proposal.  Krajewksi mentions the huge technical and financial resources required to make the mine happen.  "It will cost $300 million just for site preparation work," he says.  "You've got a family with no mining experience and I question their ability to undertake a project of this size."

"I consider this a joke," says Tom Wilson, the co-chair of the Wisconsin Stewardship Network's mining committee.  "The largest economic mining forces in the world - BHP-Billiton, Rio Tinto Zinc, and Exxon - could not prove that they could safely mine this site.  And a bunch of loggers think they can?"

The Conner family has a historical connection to the Crandon deposit.  They were the original owners of the mineral rights and sold them to Exxon in the mid-1970's.  They retained a royalty interest in the deposit.  They also kept the timbering rights on the 4800 acres that define the footprint of the site.

Conner says that 95% of the site will remain open to the public for recreational use as part of placing the land in Wisconsin's Managed Forest Law program.  The company receives a tiny property taxation rate - 74 cents/acre - in return for making the land accessible to the public.

Rep. Spencer Black, an outspoken opponent of the Crandon proposal, has announced his intent to continue seeking passage of a state law banning the use of cyanide at any Wisconsin mine site.  The previous owners of the minesite, BHP-Billiton, had indicated that they would use up to 20 tons a month of the poison to separate minerals from the mined rock.  Cyanide from mining has been implicated in numerous environmental catastrophes.

Says Black:  "The purchase of the Crandon mine points out why we need to strengthen Wisconsin's weak mining laws, especially by banning the use of cyanide in mining and closing loopholes that allow mining companies to avoid the provisions of groundwater law."

Conner indicates that his family and company's ties to northern Wisconsin will make a difference when it comes to stewardship of the land.  "We share those concerns," he says.  "We are happy we have it [the deposit] in local control."  Conner also says that they may be willing to "take some of the major sensitive issues off of the table."  Specifically, he mentions the mine's reclamation ponds (the mine waste disposal areas) as one possibility.

How the company would manage the project without the toxic threat posed by the mine wastes is unclear.

The DNR's Elizabeth Kluesner is uncertain what a new project owner means for the permitting process and its timetable.  She says the agency needs to "sit down with these folks and see what their proposal is."  The agency will need specifics and answers in several areas.  For example, she says that if reclamation ponds are not part of the project it would be viewed as a new mining proposal.  "This is not a back of cocktail napkin sort of process," Kluesner says.

The DNR is still awaiting answers from the previous owner on some of their technical concerns.  Only after the agency is satisfied with the information it has from the company will it then proceed with the issuance of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement.  The Draft Environmental Impact Statement launches the mine permiting process that ultimately leads to public hearings on the proposal and an approval or denial of the Crandon project.

"This is the 6th company since 1993 to own the site," observes Dave Blouin of the Mining Impact Coalition.  "I'm not surprised that a new company has bought it, but it won't change our approach one bit."

"We are not going to let up on our stewardship and diligence as we seek to protect the Wolf River basin," adds Tom Wilson.  "In fact," warns Wilson, "given their lack of expertise, we are going to watch these guys even closer."

Breske Applauds Purchase Of Crandon Mine
By Northwoods Business

Says new owners have long history of good stewardship and a commitment to area

ELAND – State Senator Roger Breske today applauded news that Nicolet Minerals Inc. has been sold to a Northwoods company that plans to give new life to the Crandon mine.
“This is great news for Forest County,” Breske said. “The renewed interest in the mine will bring over 200 high paying jobs to our area. Northern Wisconsin has suffered much with the downturn in the economy, and this announcement gives us hope.”

“Northern Wisconsin Resource Group LLC, the new owners of the Crandon mine, is owned by the Connor family, which has operated Nicolet Hardwoods Corporation of Laona since 1872,” the northern legislator said. The Connors bought the mine from BHP-Billiton, which announced last summer it was seeking to sell the mine. The Connor family has a long history of good stewardship, Breske noted. “We are fortunate to have a homegrown company with a strong environmental record and strong ties to Wisconsin take over the Crandon mine.”

“NWRG is committed to operating the mine in an environmentally safe manner. They are looking into alternatives to avoid any problems that might harm nearby lakes or rivers,” Breske explained. “I am very encouraged that they are seeking ways to minimize any damage that might result from the mine,” the Northwoods legislator said. “They have a lot at stake in how the mine is managed. They are making a huge investment in this. I am confident that the Connor family will do a good job.” The new owners will take up where Nicolet Minerals left off in the permit process with the Department of Natural Resources. Last summer’s announcement by BHP-Billiton to shelve the mine did not stop the permitting process, Breske explained.

“Forest County needs the economic boost the Crandon mine will provide,” the veteran legislator said. “It is one of the poorest counties in the state, and has little infrastructure available to attract new businesses. The mine could help strengthen the infrastructure needed to attract new businesses and jobs.” Breske said he had been working with Gordon Connor, president of NWRG, to get off to a good start and pledged to continue helping the company throughout the permitting process.