mining

The $50 million grant was advanced by the House Appropriations Committee last week.

A $50 million grant for a copper mine in the Upper Peninsula was approved by the state House Appropriations Committee.

In Gogebic County, on the western end of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, towering old-growth evergreens carpet the landscape as it rolls down toward the deep blue of Lake Superior.

The comment period is open until Nov. 13, and the state is holding a virtual public hearing tonight at 7 p.m.

Copper is a key metal for renewable energy, and experts say we’re going to need a lot more of it to transition to clean energy. Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is Copper Country. Some see copper mining as an economic boon for the region, but others worry it could come at the cost of some of the Great Lakes’ most pristine wild spaces.

U.S. Representative Elissa Slotkin spoke mainly about environmental issues in a visit to Traverse City on Friday. The Democrat is running for the open U.S. Senate seat.

Opinions are divided over whether the state should help finance a proposed copper mine on the shores of Lake Superior.

David Exelby was scrolling through Reddit when he came across a mysterious post. This guy had stumbled on a ghost town in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The problem was no one could find it. David and producer Max Howard go looking.

When Jordan Roberts first visited an old gravel mine outside of Grayling, in the middle of northern Michigan, he was struck by the landscape.“If I were a…