Copperwood copper deposits and combined them with the
company’s existing Keweenaw projects. The synergistic
combination of these three assets in a single portfolio will
create a large-scale copper and silver resource. This is an
opportunity to invest in a mining and processing project with
documented reserves of 3.5 billion pounds (1.6 billion
kilograms) of copper.
The White Pine mine produced over 4.5 billion pounds (two
billion kilograms) of copper from 1953 to 1995, leaving behind
an estimated 2.5 billion pounds (1.13 billion kilograms) of
copper as reserves. The Copperwood deposit has been
explored and is fully permitted, containing over one billion
pounds (454 million kilograms) of copper. The two projects are
close to each other and a joint development is synergistic and
highly beneficial for both sites. Highland has advanced the
exploration of the Keweenaw deposits and sees Keweenaw
and Copperwood as suppliers of high grade feed to a common
processing plant located at White Pine.
The White Pine site boasts well-established infrastructure,
including a copper refinery. The existing paved roads,
communications, Canadian National rail spur, electric power,
natural gas, and water infrastructure provides the opportunity
to fast track project development with reduced investment cost.
Mining has been taking place in Michigan since prehistoric
times. Nonferrous minerals such as copper, nickel, zinc, gold
and silver are abundant in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Multiple mining related activities are underway, and mineral
rights on more than one million (405,000 hectares) of the
Upper Peninsula’s seven million acres (2.8 million hectares)
have been leased by companies prospecting for
Recent updates to regulatory and revenue structures have
improved the effectiveness and transparency of the state’s
approach to mining operations.