OPINION: More on wolf regulations

By Jack Parker *

The original title of this article was simply "MORON wolf regulations," but the Editor considered that to be indelicate so we modified it, thus illustrating the Power of the Press.

That original title wasn’t a typo. Just a spontaneous comment.

But first here’s a thank you for Nancy Warren and her tireless efforts to keep us informed about wolves and the attempts to "manage" them. Her latest contribution in Keweenaw Now, concerning the wolf depredations described in a Detroit Free Press article that is no longer available on line, should pave the way to better legislation. At the same time I thank her for bringing to us Rory Linnane’s similar observations from the Wisconsin front.**

The time has come, as they used to say, to stop playing this silly political game and to throw the bastards out of office, then to replace them with honest individuals. I will expand upon that proposal very soon -- before they do more damage.

Google, always sniffing the wind, has acknowledged the commercial connections already by inserting an ad on my screen, as follows: "A Thermal Rifle 'Scope for $3995." The connections are that obvious.

I find no fault with Nancy’s opinion but would like to reinforce it. If anything she is too gentle with the brutal facts. I quote from her and the DNR that during the period 2010-2012 48 percent of the UP depredations occurred on one farm, the John Koski farm near Matchwood.

If you can find the report by specialist Brian Roell you will see that the depredations have been going on for years, and DNR knows it and has supported it and, according to Mr Koski, who holds the record, he has had more than 119 cattle killed or injured by wolves in the past three years. Government-paid trappers and shooters "have killed dozens of the wolves." You must agree that lethal measures have done little to discourage the wolves -- explained by a photograph in the FREEP (Detroit Free Press) article showing cattle carcasses left in the field for months -- an obvious invitation to the feast. That is illegal.

I think that you will come away from that report, (which Nancy paid for, thru the DEQ FOIA program) understanding that Brian wrote a good, honest report but that his "superiors" hid it, covered it up -- and used the staged depredations for their own evil political purposes -- to arouse public fears and hatred against the critters -- and to promote wolf hunting. You will see that paying people to shoot wolves did not stop the predation.

So the Koski farm shoots a big hole in the promoters’ arguments. Forty eight percent of them. Not done yet. Another large bunch of complaints, favored especially by Mr. Casperson, came from around Ironwood. The wolves are not to be faulted there either. They were lured into the city by well-meaning folks who fed the deer -- which were followed by their natural predator. I have heard of no tickets for baiting. How many wolves were shot because of those misdeeds? More than a dozen.

Dog depredation, incorrectly reported to have taken place "in Atlantic Mine," was the other big headline. However, very little was said about two of the dogs running loose in wolf habitat.

That’s enough for now, I think. It serves to illustrate the lying tactics used to support the plans of the wolf hunters and those who would exploit and profit by it -- and the fact that they are not suited for public office.

Next I would like to examine how much expertise has gone into Michigan wolf management. The legislators, from the governor on down, wouldn’t know a wolf for sure if attacked by a large sharp-eared, bushy-tailed canine, and are far from familiar with world-wide research literature. Am sure that a four-hour written test could be arranged before hiring. A good place to start would be the NRC (Natural Resources Commission) -- a seven-piece sample. A sample question: How many Michigan wolves are killed illegally every year? Don’t forget those which were targeted after Mr K failed to protect his cattle.

Surely we should also examine the mind set of persons who kill for fun, such as those who consider that baiting and trapping followed by gang-style execution constitutes "sport." They should be locked up. That will come later.

Editor's Notes:

 * Keweenaw Now guest author Jack Parker is from Toivola, Michigan.

** This article is a commentary on our June 27, 2013, article, "Opinion: Nearly half of wolf depredations attributed to one farm with poor animal husbandry practices," by Nancy Warren, National Wolfwatcher Coalition Great Lakes regional director.

Letter: Doubts concerning the wolf hunt regulations

The Pros have figured out how best to regulate the wolf hunt "to reduce predation on pets and livestock and to minimize wolf/human conflicts." The published regulations leave me puzzled. I wonder if I am alone in that category. Show me the predation and the conflicts.

1. 1200 licenses are to be sold beginning in August.
2.  The goal is to "Kill" 43 wolves, any age or sex.  That 4-letter word sets the stage -- get the kids used to killing for fun. That’s what guns are for, isn’t it?
3.  Bait and traps are allowed to hold the wild dog captive while mighty hunter shoots it. In no way are the contestants evenly matched. It’s an execution, not a sport.
4.  Licenses can be used in any or all of the three zones set up for hunting, beginning Nov 15th.
5.  Any "hunter" can set out bait if he sees wolf sign, and replenish it frequently, much like bones for bear bait.
6.  Three months hence he can bury traps around his baitpile, later to entrap those semi-domesticated wolves.
7.  On opening day he can sit in his blind and shoot his wolf, or all of them if he is truly anti-wolf.  Otherwise his buddies can shoot the rest.  3-2-1- Shoot together at designated targets.
8. That does not thin out the wolf population -- it wipes out the local pack.
9. Repeat that pattern with 1200 licensees in other territories and there is no way that the regulators will be able to stop the shooting when the so-called quota is filled.
10. Consider too the hundreds of deer hunters sitting in blinds waiting for something to move, to take a potshot and, if it be a wolf -- to hope that it will go away to hide and die.  Pray for snow.
11. Experts, Commission members, responsible officers at MDNR and Governor Snyder, please explain to us, your neighbors and in some cases your employers, how you plan to determine how many wolves have been killed and how you will ensure that the quota will not be exceeded? Anything beyond the quota can not be designated collateral, like humans in warfare.

With these ill-conceived "Regulations" I would expect around 100 wolves to be shot and would hold the regulators culpable and deserving of punishment. $1000 each/wolf, minimum. Or revoke the regulations.

Jack Parker

Baltic MI 49963

Letter to EPA: Comments on CR 595 road proposal

Editor's Note: The following letter, dated Apr. 6, 2012, was sent to the Watersheds and Wetlands Branch of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 5, Chicago, Ill., during the public comment period on the Marquette County Road Commission's permit application for the proposed CR 595, a haul road for the Rio Tinto-Kennecott Eagle Mine.

These observations do not deal with the details of road planning and construction and the environment -- but with the underlying fundamentals, essentially that the applicant, Kennecott Eagle Mining Corporation, is not and never has been negotiating in good faith.

We, a small group which evaluated the application for mining permits, initially for the National Wildlife Foundation but without sponsorship when NWF funds ran out in 2008, have found and reported that the application document was, and still is, unacceptably ill-conceived, erroneous, deceitful and fraudulent.

It is strange, but true, that we have presented the evidence to the regulating agency (MDEQ), to the courts and to all legal authorities up to the State Attorney General, then the U.S. Attorney General, then the FBI, and all simply said, "No thank you. End of conversation," and all refused to even investigate the charges. We have the proof.

Since the operations went underground in September 2011 MSHA entered the picture, being held specifically responsible for Mine Safety and Health Administration. We handed them proof of two specific allegations: That the mine design was based upon incorrect and falsified design data and that the mine design, if followed, would be unstable and might well collapse without warning (as did the Athens iron mine near Negaunee, MI, despite the 1800 ft. thick crown pillar) and as did the Ropes gold mine near Ishpeming.

NB: Sainsbury, the technical expert hired by MDEQ to evaluate the mining aspects of the application, testified that he was told by MDEQ to delete those "case histories" from his report. That surely should have raised a red flag over the permitting proceedings. But it did not.

At this time MSHA tells us that in Metallic Mining law their mandate is to deal with unsafe operations as they show up, but not preemptively. In Coal Mining law they do have power to evaluate and allow or reject planned activities. Judging from the Athens mine collapse events we will have to wait for the Eagle to collapse then send in an investigative team or two, much as we did at the two recent major coal mine disasters in Utah and W. Va.

This attitude fits the generally recognized pattern within the industry -- which is to "Do anything and to say anything to get the permits -- then make changes as necessary." Law 632 requires supported amendments for each of these changes, unless the DEQ deems them to be "insignificant" -- which is what the DEQ usually does -- without the required public hearings and input. To me, a plain old engineer, that looks like collusion.

The Federal agencies have some degree of independence and in the earlier evaluation of a haul road displayed it by declaring that the name "Woodland Road," or "Wetland Road," was deceptive in that a simple truck count or tonnage count would show that haulage of ore from mine to mill was/is the primary purpose for building it, and if there were no mine then no new road would be built.

The deception continues. Behind the scenes Kennecott deals with local authorities and induces them to get state funds to help with the haulage roads, and still they have no permitted route. Incidentally 632 requires that ALL mining-related permits be in hand before other mining-related activities begin. That ruling has been ignored, or defied, since Day One, by extension of power lines, for example.

As evidence of gross deception Kennecott continues to soothe local objections by sticking to their original story that the mine will produce an average of 1500 tons/day, i.e thirty 50-ton truckloads per day. The locals appear to have accepted that proposition. But the Humboldt Mill is being constructed to handle not 1500 but 10,000 tons/day. Obviously they intend to mine more, not thirty but two hundred round trips per day. That, of course, would make a lot of difference -- first to their claim to be open and transparent in their dealings with the public -- thence to the degree of opposition aroused. Revelation of the truth could sink the project.

That intentional opacity is again demonstrated in their refusal to answer all questions about the most basic questions concerning the design of a new road -- How much traffic per day? How heavy the loads? What speed limits, gradients, vertical and horizontal curves? Trucks do not have to go 55 mph! Think about noise, dust and accidents.

For what length of time will the haul road be needed? 

More specifically -- how many years would KEMC mine at the Eagle prospect? If, as planned, they take only the high-grade ore ($1,000/ton) they could do it in five or six years; but if they mined more responsibly they could recover an additional billion dollars worth of $150 ore and extend the life of the mine another 15 years. That would be much more desirable from our point of view.

The numbers are in the application.

They do not disclose their intentions directly but the corporate (Rio Tinto) business plan is to seek out and operate only projects which will be profitable through times both thick and thin -- which implies that they will take only high-grade -- as they did at the Flambeau mine in Wisconsin. Is it to be a 5-year life? Or 20 years?

Another question which they avoid -- although you asked it for "Woodland Road" -- is this: "How many other destinations will the haul road serve?" How much additional environment will be disturbed? I am reasonably sure that they have strong, if not conclusive, indications from their airborne and other exploration efforts. But that, of course, is called proprietary information. Behold the cloak.

Conclusion: I believe that all road-planning to date has been based on intentional deception, and should therefore be thrown out, and that KEMC should be required to start again, specifically without deception, thus displaying their vaunted openness and transparency. If the facts are not forthcoming there should be no new road. (Say anything to get the permits!)

I would not be surprised if the original transportation plan would have been the best -- if they were mining only high-grade ore -- to truck it to a railhead close to Marquette and ship trainloads direct to refinery. No Humboldt mill was needed. There is still doubt concerning that 10,000 tpd operation -- and tailings disposal. (Some day somebody will discover that a large tailings pond would have to be built in the wetlands there. Another surprise!) Try this one: "Why was the multi-million dollar monumental Bridge to Nowhere built on CR510 in 2006 forward. The motive? Ask for a photograph of the finished product.

Respectfully submitted,

Jack Parker, Mining Engineer
Baltic MI 49963

Headwaters News: Mine Haul Road Poorly Planned

By Jack Parker
Posted on Headwaters News Feb. 23, 2012

Note: This article was written in response to Headwaters’ Feb. 22, 2012, article, "Citizens Pack Hearing to Oppose Rio Tinto Road."*

Dear Editors:

Not a bad summary, but the most important questions were neither answered nor asked.

1. Justification for a road. Apparently it is to haul from mine(s) to mill. But why not ship direct from mine to smelter, as originally planned? The plan is still to mine only high-grade Massive and Semi-Massive ores, isn’t it?

Was it an error to purchase the mill, now necessitating a cover-up?

Why is the mill equipped to handle 10,000 tpd [tons per day] while the Eagle produces only 2,000 tpd?

At 10,000 tpd where would the extra tailings go?

Given the original plan, to ship direct to Ontario, no special haul road would be needed....

Click here to read the rest of this article.

* Click here to read Headwaters' Feb 22 article about the Feb. 21, 2012, DEQ Hearing on the proposed CR 595.

Opinion: Thoughts on Kennecott tactics

By Jack Parker*

1. In the permitting process since February 2006 Kennecott has simply denied all wrongdoing, including fraud and endangerment of life, limb, property and environment, but without bothering to show that our evidence was incorrect.
2. In that stance they were backed by Rio Tinto and enabled by MDEQ, consistently.
3. With the help of MDEQ they were granted permits, not following Part 632 of Michigan Mining Law; and they have forged ahead with mine construction, illegally, with supreme confidence and arrogance.
4. It would seem that they had been guaranteed that all permits would be issued, without a shadow of a doubt.
5. The Courts have consistently backed Kennecott, as if they too were in on a conspiracy. Even the Michigan Attorney General, Bill Schuette, declined to investigate and prosecute, which is his job.
6. The general public is not well informed because the media are controlled by the business interests.
7. The Feds do not intervene because permitting is under State Law. MSHA is now on the scene because part of the operation is now underground. That may give us some fresh professional leverage on the fraudulent mine design issue -- the design is such that collapse is predicted.**
8. So it seems that Kennecott is pushing toward a fait accompli -- a "done deal" -- for which a reversal of all permits would be politically and publicly difficult.
9. What comes to mind now is that Kennecott, with help from MDEQ, may be blustering mildly and continuing with construction for just a few more months -- at which time the Michigan Statutes of Limitation (6 years for fraud) will have run out, leaving them free to do as they please.
10. Under a different heading, "Judgment," the limit is 10 years, renewable for a further 10 years.
11. Do you suppose that their plan is to run down the clock?
12. Will we prevent that happening? Tempus fugit …

Editor's Notes:
* Keweenaw Now guest writer Jack Parker of Baltic, semi-retired mining engineer / geologist, specializes in practical rock mechanics.

** Jack Parker has published two reports on the instability of Rio Tinto-Kennecott's Eagle Mine. See our Dec. 6, 2010, article, "Mining expert Jack Parker says Eagle Mine likely to collapse."

Opinion: Handling the Villains: RT/KEMC/DEQ

By Jack Parker*

RT/KEMC/DEQ: "Do anything, say anything -- to get the permits. We’ll fix it later."**

The month of September was a milestone in our "campaign" to overcome the activities of the villainous trio. They have prevailed. They have drilled and blasted at Eagle Rock. Five or six years of legal efforts have not stopped them. Those authorities who should have rebuked them continue to support them. The news media support them. Local police support them. Our ranks have floundered around aimlessly, without noticeable success.

Most of us do not "Know the enemy." So listen!

1. We do not realize the magnitude of the prize they seek. You have never seen a billion.

The first stage in exploitation is the Eagle orebody, said to be worth around 4.7 billion dollars. There is no good reason to believe that figure -- and RT/KEMC will not share the most recent numbers. They should. We shrug it off.

But get this: 4.7 billion is four thousand seven hundred million. That many dollars, end-to-end, would go around the equator 17.8 times. Get that picture into your mind and you may begin to fathom the intentions of RT/KEMC and how desperately they will act to get that prize. Never forget that prize. They won’t.

The Eagle project will open the door to several other projects, similarly rich. We are not dealing with amateurs. We have been bugging them like noseeums. They don’t bother to swat us, not yet.

2. We have some laws and they have ignored, altered and broken them. We allude to their crimes but allow them to deflect questions and criticisms. We let them do it! And whine to each other.

The public does not hear us. The Lower Peninsula treats us like a Third World country, to be exploited and used for recreation. We accept tourist dollars if and when they come.

It seems to me that the only way to hold back the exploiters is to bring their misdeeds to the attention of the Lower Peninsula. They too are being robbed.

3. The most obvious way to get that attention is to expose the lies and deceptions coming from RT/KEMC and their hangers-on, and we can do that by persistent and informed questioning of the criminals.

A story circulating currently is that some uranium may exist in the orebody and the KEMC will recover it. If true it will require significant changes in the mining and processing activities, hence in the permits.

If open and honest, as their propaganda claims, RT/KEMC would acknowledge the presence of uranium and deal with it.

If they ignore the matter we should pursue it. But hear this -- of more immediate significance:

We have in our hands clear evidence that the DEQ accepted the original application for permits illegally -- they ignored the opinions of the mining experts, including their own, that the document was far from acceptable. For that they should be prosecuted, and the DEQ acceptance should be reversed. Then all permits and agreements would be void.

It’s as simple as that. If we pursue it.

The Attorney General (AG) gave us an opening when he declared that one of his priorities was "To uncover and prosecute crime at ALL levels of state and local government."

Note that he and his Public Integrity Unit were going to handle the prosecution, not some impoverished Yoopers.

But, three months after receiving the evidence and a request for urgent action, AG Bill Schuette and his department are still stonewalling, doing nothing. That equates to supporting RT/KEMC/DEQ, i.e., not pursuing justice but the AG obstructing justice.

The last words coming from the A.G’s office, actually from Tom Cameron, were as follows:

"While I recognize how strongly you feel about this matter, and how much you disagree with the final decision to issue the permits and approve the application, I am simply not persuaded that this is a matter upon which we should direct our resources. Within the scope of prosecutorial discretion, we are closing our file without further
action.

Sincerely,

Thomas Cameron
Bureau Chief, Criminal Justice Bureau"

It’s almost laughable, isn’t it! B.S. But I said that already, five years ago. Verbatim.
I have, of course, responded to Tom’s letter, pointing out how they had missed the point, and asking them to reconsider, immediately. It was mailed, certified, 9.26.2011.

Now get this folks: Two individuals have handed you an uncomplicated case against the initial DEQ wrongdoing, which would pull the rug from under the RT/KEMC/DEQ Coalition.*** We have seen no support from our attorneys, from the media (with one notable exception), from most of the environmental groups, from Yoopers in general. You heard about it three months ago.

But you do nothing to support it.

Do you enjoy your misery? Your martyrdom? Or will you "Take the money" and be quiet?

JP

Editor's Notes:

* Mining expert Jack Parker, semi-retired mining engineer/geologist, is well respected for his practical experience in more than 500 mines around the world. Parker -- who has degrees in mining engineering, geological engineering and geology from Michigan Technological University -- specializes in practical rock mechanics.

** Rio Tinto, Kennecott Eagle Minerals Co., Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.

*** One environmental group, WAVE (Water Action Vital Earth) joined Parker and Laura Gauger in writing to the Michigan Attorney General on this issue. See: "Environmental group asks Michigan A.G. to investigate allegations of fraud at DEQ."

Letter: Judge Manderfield's edict on sacred site was incorrect

By Jack Parker*

1. Judge Patterson originally ruled that the portal at Eagle Rock should be moved from the proposed location at the base of the western face of Eagle Rock, far enough to allow activities of worship to take place. That was obviously NOT a casual comment but a decision.

Rio Tinto - Kennecott Eagle Minerals project at Eagle Rock on the Yellow Dog Plains: portal construction, east view. Click on photo for larger version. (Sept. 15, 2011, photo © Jeremiah Eagle Eye and courtesy Stand for the Land. Reprinted with permission.)

2. KEMC (Kennecott Eagle Minerals Co.) attorneys made another of their arrogant and presumptuous "determinations" and declared that the site was not a place of worship because there were no man-made buildings or structures on it. The DEQ went along with the KEMC determination and allowed the portal to stay where it was.

Both KEMC and DEQ had misinterpreted the definitions, deliberately. They had presented false statements into the permitting process. Check your dictionaries. Then check Part 632, page 14 (4).**

"Sacred" may refer to a religious context (with the word "religious" itself being open for discussion), but it can also refer to objects or subjects which are revered.

That definition can be applied to the Rock unquestionably. The requirement that there be a man-made structure or building on it may apply in some places; but a lot of people have "gone to the mountain" to communicate with a god, or gods, thus making it a place of worship, without question. Worship may well be defined as a practice which expresses to a person or an object or a deity adoration, reverence and love -- essentially great worth, i.e., worthship.

Surely I am conscious of that as I watch the sun go down over the Yellow Dog Plains. The great big world keeps turning. I witness it. Yet another day is done. I am so small …

Here I must interject a bit of geology: A few thousand years ago, when man first came to the Plains, Eagle Rock was an island rising some 50 ft above a proglacial lake (bordered in part by glacial ice). At that time there were no trees, so the view from the Rock, itself higher than Mount Bohemia, would include most of the Keweenaw Peninsula and great distances to the north, south and east, too. The travel agent might label it "Magnificent!" The ancients would be awe-struck -- a mixed emotion of respect, reverence, dread and wonder. Undoubtedly it was a very special place.

I submit that the Rock has always been a place of "worship."

Kennecott displays a condition of being unaware, uneducated, uninformed.

No doubt there were made-made shelters there then, initially made of snow and ice, later made of saplings covered with skins and bark and thatch, and, more recently -- tents. Nobody specified concrete blocks and tin roofs.

I once asked a Native American lady to tell me about her religion but she demurred, very gently, saying that they do not like to talk about it with the white folks, because we make fun of such things. So we changed the subject. Would that KEMC could respect their feelings.

3. A cyclone fence has been erected around the outcrop, close to the base of the west face, where the portal is planned to be. It defines a "Do not disturb" area. We appreciate that.

Suppose that we accept the fenceline as a token of acceptance by Kennecott that the Rock is a special place. Leaning on definitions, as Kennecott is wont to do, the word "Rock" refers not only to the outcrop but also to that volume defined by planes extending vertically downward from the limits of the outcrop to the center of the earth -- just as mineral rights are assumed to do. That would be halfway to Australia -- which means that the declined tunnel must not pass beneath the Rock at any depth.

4. "Do not disturb." Turning again to our trusty dictionary (mine is American Heritage, 4th Edition).

With pleasure I accept the #1 definition: "To disturb is to destroy or break up the tranquility." Again there can be no doubt that any mining-related activity will destroy the tranquility -- be it drilling, blasting, loading, trucking or any traffic. Activities making noises, dusts and odors would likewise be allowed only at a distance of several hundred feet from the Rock.

Judge Patterson’s ruling was correct -- the portal must be moved far from the Rock.

My opinion is that the Rock is not the best place from which to access and ventilate the ore body. Kennecott made a costly mistake and must pay for it.

Judge Manderfield was misled by their arrogant and overconfident propaganda and must now rescind her edict and issue the injunction specified in Part 632 for cases of doubt.

Thank you,

Jack Parker, Mining Engineer, Toivola, MI 49965

* Mining expert Jack Parker, semi-retired mining engineer/geologist, is well respected for his practical experience in more than 500 mines around the world. Parker -- who has degrees in mining engineering, geological engineering and geology from Michigan Technological University -- specializes in practical rock mechanics.

** Click here for Part 632, Michigan Nonferrous Metallic Mineral Mining Law.

Letter: Message to Judge Manderfield

By Jack Parker*

If I were an airframe designer and I recognized a couple of fatal flaws in the design of Boeing’s new Dreamliner I would not rest until I had done my utmost to prevent a disaster, regardless of the odds, the opposition and the name-calling. That’s what engineers are supposed to do -- to apply the science responsibly.

With the Eagle mine plan I have sixty-some years of mining and geological engineering experience to apply, specializing in stability problems. Here we go.

THE CROWN PILLAR, THE LID OF THE MINE, AS DESIGNED, IS NOT STABLE. INSTEAD IT IS ALMOST CERTAIN TO BE UNSTABLE. I will list the reasons in case somebody wishes to dispute that assertion.

1. The basic data put into the design formulas were fudged, intentionally manipulated to ensure passage of permits. When corrected and entered into those formulas the safety factors become lower than 1.0 -- which indicates that the crown pillar will probably collapse. Nobody has denied the fudging.

2. The diamond drill cores show significant zones of poor rock. They were deliberately omitted from the pillar design process. Nobody denies that either. The fudged numbers and core descriptions were supplied to all designers and reviewers, including MDEQ; and not one of them insisted on independent data. In engineering work that constitutes a misdemeanor.

3. The quoted design thickness, 87.5 meters, includes some of that poor rock, some of it the fractured and weathered rock near surface. To include that as an asset instead of a burden is ridiculous.

4. The crown was assumed to be of peridotite, one of the strongest rocks. In reality the cores show that a large proportion would be of the weaker sedimentary and ore-bearing rocks. That is undeniable.

5. I, personally, have no use for computer modeling in mine design because the input is what we used to call "garbage." You cannot assign rock properties as measured in the lab, on small cores, to a huge mass of millions of tons of widely variable rock in which the mine would be constructed. It is not possible to select a suite of small samples which will be representative. Try it next time you look at an extensive roadcut or a quarry! You will almost certainly select the best rock. You will not select any poor rock.

6. Computer modeling is normally tempered by "case histories" -- what happened when similar designs were used in similar conditions. For reasons not made public, but suspect -- the DEQ told their hired expert, David Sainsbury, to delete case histories from his report on the Application for Permits.

Sainsbury described the 87.5 meter thick crown as SUBSTANTIAL, not STABLE. Blake misquoted him. So did the KEMC (Kennecott Eagle Minerals Company) attorney in a tête-à-tête with Ms. (Judge) Manderfield. I heard it. Ms. Manderfield followed his lead.

7. One of the deletions was the Athens iron mine, near Negaunee. The "crown pillar" was 1800 ft thick, in jaspilite -- an extremely strong rock in lab tests -- and it collapsed overnight. The geologic structure is not unlike that at the Eagle site. That leads to the next -- an overwhelming observation.

8. NOBODY, not even a judge, can assert that a crown pillar will be stable, NOBODY, without knowing the stressfield in the rockmass. Horizontal compressive stresses are necessary to hold up a normal rockmass, with its many structural defects. If the stressfield is low compressive or, worse yet, tensile, then collapse is to be expected -- as at the Athens mine.

In at least three places in the literature we have indications of locally tensile stress. At the White Pine mine Parker measured and wrote about it. On the Yellow Dog Plains Bill Cannon (USGS) and Jim Trow (LSGI) recognized that the geological structure (primarily the long, straight, subvertical, E-W intrusive dikes) indicate that the stressfield is tensile, oriented N-S. That was our interpretation too.

Ignoring that information would probably be fatal. Stresses could and should have been measured in the rockmass in a week or so, at a cost of a few thousand dollars. Kennecott failed to do that. They guessed.

9. Neither of the DEQ experts, Sainsbury and Blake, showed facts or figures to indicate that the crown pillar would be stable.

10. To summarize: There is no credible evidence to support Ms. Manderfield’s conclusion that the 87.5 m crown pillar would be stable. All supporting statements are conjecture, based on dubious data and faulty reasoning. The conclusion was incorrect. The "Motion to Stay" should have been approved.**

I can only assume that she was misinformed by advisors.

These points have been brought to the attention of all concerned but have been ignored, with some blustering -- but not even a critical investigation. It is almost too late -- but not too late, to reconsider.

Please do that.

Thank you,

Jack Parker, Mining Engineer, Toivola MI 49965*

Editor's Notes:

* Mining expert Jack Parker, semi-retired mining engineer/geologist, is well respected for his practical experience in more than 500 mines around the world. Parker -- who has degrees in mining engineering, geological engineering and geology from Michigan Technological University -- specializes in practical rock mechanics.

Parker recently published two reports on the Eagle Mine, pointing out reasons why it is likely to collapse if mined as planned in Kennecott's mining permit. To read about
them see our illustrated Dec.6, 2010 article, "Mining expert Jack Parker says Eagle Mine likely to collapse."

** See "Groups ask Judge to halt mine blasting at Eagle Rock."
(Judge Manderfield denied this "Motion to Stay" last week. See the Sept. 15, 2011, Mining Journal article.

Keweenawan Jewels

By Jack Parker (aka jprockdoctor)*

Guest author Jack Parker, mining engineer, calls this rock an "amygdaloidal beach cobble." See below to learn why. (Rock painting by Gustavo Bourdieu. Photo © 2011 and courtesy Jack Parker)

You think it’s hot here this month?

You should have been here a couple of billion years ago, when it was being built. The whole earth was in a state of upheaval. There were no trees, no grass, no lakes or beaches. She was rumbling and shaking, as if waking from a bad dream.

Volcanoes were showering bombs and hot ashes on Keweenaw County, cracks opened up and vast flows of molten rock oozed across the land. Fire and brimstone -- the brimstone being sulfur. The atmosphere was really toxic -- there being no EPA to regulate it.

Thirsty? Sorry, there is no fresh water. Hungry? You’re going to have to wait. There’s nothing to eat yet …

But there is so much going on -- it keeps the amateur geologist thinking and wondering and puzzled to this day. Always looking for clues.

Vesicles for example: As those lavas flowed across the landscape gas bubbles rose to the tops of the flows and many of them were preserved in the rocks as they cooled, bubbles large and small. So we can recognize a flowtop when we see it.

Then, again over a very long period of time, fluids passed through the rock and entered the bubbles, often precipitating new minerals in them. The filled bubbles are called amygdules (from the Latin word for almond), frequently white with calcite, glassy with quartz, yellowish- green with epidote, sometimes banded with agate, occasionally with native copper and rarely with native silver.

If there is enough value we mine those flowtops, calling them "Amygdaloids." Some folks search in them for semi-precious stones, including agates, amethysts, greenstones, and thompsonites.

Today folks scour the wasterock piles and gravel pits and the beaches to find specimens which please them -- tons of them. Michigan Tech has contributed to a lot of what is called "student erosion" of the UP, now scattered all over the world in showcases, basements and garages.

One very special collection can be seen at the "Tori Market" in Hancock on Wednesdays and Saturdays. You will find vegetables, honey, artwork, handicrafts and not a few tall stories, in the open air or under canvas.

The above photograph is of an amygdaloidal beach cobble, about three inches long -- the prettiest I have seen in eighty years of looking. It’s a happy rock. Just to look at it makes me smile.

* Editor's Note: Keweenaw Now guest author Jack Parker of Baltic is a semi-retired mining engineer / geologist, who specializes in practical rock mechanics.

Updated: Michigan Attorney General asked to investigate state permitting of Eagle Mine

From Stand for the Land *

LANSING -- On June 15, 2011, a small group of people, including mining expert Jack Parker and conservationist Laura Gauger, sent a request to Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, asking him to investigate allegations of criminal activity at the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ). The subject of the requested investigation is the department’s approval of Kennecott Minerals’ mine permit application for the Eagle Mine Project in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

Read the revised press release on Stand for the Land ...

*Editor's Note: You can read about Jack Parker's reports on the potential instability of the Eagle Mine in our Dec. 6, 2010, article, "Mining expert Jack Parker says Eagle Mine likely to collapse," and about Laura Gauger's book, The Buzzards Have Landed, and her experience with Kennecott's Flambeau Mine in Wisconsin in our Jan. 25, 2011, article, "Updated: Lawsuit filed against Kennecott subsidiary for water pollution at Flambeau Mine site."