Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Pictures Put Proposed Wisconsin Mine Into Perspective

Because a mining bill is still under consideration, let's do some comparison between what we know was being proposed for an open-pit iron mine dug with mountain top removal technology in the Penokee Hills near Ashland with the dimensions of the Hull-Rust Mahoning open-pit iron ore mine in Minnesota - - 

Single Image
- - described as the "Grand Canyon of the North" and world's largest operating open-pit iron ore mine:
Three miles long, two miles wide and 535 feet deep.
Statistics cited in this Journal Sentinel article indicate the proposed dimensions of the GTAC open-pit iron ore mine in Northern Wisconsin:
4.5 miles long, up to 1.5 miles wide and 700-1,000 feet deep.
Or, easily on the scale of the Minnesota mine.

Here is some descriptive information about the watershed that the proposed Wisconsin mine would influence:

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Has the comparison with the Minnesota mine had a high-enough media profile?

Here is another site with comparative photos.




Also - - There are more photos and information copied here about the Minnesota mine from Bemedji State University faculty to help you project it into a Wisconsin setting:

The photo [below] from shows a close-up of a drilling rig (as close as possible without working in the mine.

The photo [below] has arrows pointing to three pieces of equipment. The left arrow is pointing to a red and white shovel that loads taconite, the center arrow is pointing to a drilling rig, and the right arrow is pointing to a black and yellow shovel that loads overburden.

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