GOGEBIC COUNTY, MI-- Highland Copper has temporarily halted drilling at Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park.
Exploration of the one-mile-square section of the park stopped because of unseasonably warm weather. A permit issued by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources stipulates that drilling take place only on frozen ground, preferably when there’s more than a foot of snow cover. The provisions are meant to protect the surface of the drilling area.
Orvana Resources—a subsidiary of Highland Copper—was granted a permit to drill 12, 5-inch-diameter core borings to evaluate copper minerals under the surface.
DNR officials say Highland Copper will resume drilling if prolonged wintry conditions return to Gogebic County. If exploration doesn’t resume in March, it will be postponed until next winter.
