America’s Dairyland may soon become “Mining Country.” GreenLight Wisconsin, a company from Medford, recently filed an exploratory drilling application for part of Marathon County called the Reef Deposit.
Here’s Five Fast Facts About Mining in Wisconsin:
- ⛏⛏ Is there gold? - Maybe. For the time being, GreenLight is doing exploratory drilling, looking for any useful metals, including gold. Marathon county has never had a mine, so this is just a shot in the dark... like a mine.
- 🗺❓ Where is it? - The reef belt runs from just north of Green Bay to La Crosse, basically part of the middle of the state.
- 👲👷 Why now? - Former Gov. Walker ended the mining moratorium in 2017 and GreenLight is the first to get the…green…light. It’s okay to roll your eyes.
- 🪙🪙 What kind of mine? - It would be an open pit mine, also called a strip mine. It is safer than the old school mines you’ve probably seen, but it also could have a negative impact on the environment. Expect activists and lots of arguing.
- 💰💰 So…jobs? - GreenLight’s CEO says a mine could create hundreds of new jobs and would act as a “critical link” in the global supply chain.
🔥 Bottom line: The potential for new jobs and new money in the state is fantastic. But there’s no guarantee GreenLight will hire locally or if the mine will even get off the ground. Especially if it gets tangled up in a battle of environmentalists vs business.
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