Book Description

Flambeau Mining Corporation, a subsidiary of Kennecott Copper Corporation, proposes to establish a 55-acre open pit copper mine near Ladysmith, Wisconsin. Flambeau proposes to build a 156-acre waste containment area approximately 2 miles south of the mine pit to contain waste rock stripped from the mine pit and tailings from the concentrator plant. Waste material would be transported to the containment area via truck and pipeline. The proposed project lifetime is 11 years with potential extension for an additional 11 years. Benefits would include tax revenues and employment, with a maximum of 220 jobs during construction and 78 jobs during operation. Adverse effects would include depletion of the area's coper mineral resources, loss of 79 acres of deciduous-coniferous forest and 20 acres of shrub swamp and sedge meadow wetland along with their associated wildlife, loss of agricultural lands, unemployment created at the closing of the mine in 11 or 22 years.