Enclosed is a proposal for graduate student support at Michigan Technological University. The graduate students will participate in an Initiative originated at Michigan Tech to help supply needed information to the communities in the Upper Peninsula that would be affected by mining.

In the past few years, awareness of the impact of technology on communities, the economy, and the environment has risen, and efforts to understand and mitigate the impacts have grown. As you know, Kennecott has been a part of the process to improve the impact and legacy of mining. Rio Tinto was a senior contributor in the World Mining Initiative, which produced Mining Minerals and a Sustainable Environment, a ground breaking response to the issues raised by mining.

Technology and its affect on society is also a new direction for MTU. The Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences has many projects and initiatives in this area. The University has also established the Sustainable Futures Institute, which directs a multi-disciplinary to approach to the impact of technology. The Institute is a collaboration of engineers, scientists and social scientists and includes fields such as ecology, chemistry, public policy, forestry, ground water studies, mining, and many more.

The enclosed proposal will support MTUs work in sustainability. It was written by Richard Gertsch, Professor of Mining Engineering. In addition to his 20 year background in industry, research, academia, he has been working on the many issues raised by mining and the environment, and has been working with communities and organizations in the Upper Peninsula. He is heading up the UP Initiative at MTU to help provide neutral and timely information to those affected by mining.

In addition providing neutral help to the people in the UP, your funding will help further the education of mineral engineers. MTU is already known for the quality of its technical education. I consider it important to add a fundamental understanding of the social issues raised by technology. Your support for graduate students will greatly further this goal.

Richard Gertsch, Bruce Seely, and Wayne Pennington

Michigan Tech is in the process of organizing an Initiative to help the UP communities that would be affected if a mine were built. The Initiative would address the need for neutral and trustworthy information about mining and its effects. It would also provide a forum for people in the communities to express their concerns and reveive information relating to those concerns. More details are in the enclosed Initiative summary.

As with any change, people are worried about how mining will change their lives and their community. A lack of information about mining and its affects causes the worry. The Initiative is based on the idea that knowledge is power. MTU’s Initiative would collect the needed information and provide it to any and all who are interested. The Initiative is envisioned as a multi-year effort.

Students funded by Kennecott will be intimately involved in the collection and dissemination of useful and trustworthy information. Useful, because it will be the best information available. Trustworthy, because the University will not espouse any point of view or agenda. The following graduate student tasks begin the effort to collect and disseminate information:

Task 1. Attend Mining Regulatory Working Group Meetings.

Michigan recently passed a new mining law. The law provides a framework for regulating mining. A Working Group of citizens, organizations and government agencies has been charged with providing issues that the regulations should address. The student will attend the Working Group meetings and record the deliberations, and report back to the communities.

Task 2. Attend Hearings Related to Permitting or Other Regulatory Proceedings.

The process of permitting any industrial project is long and involves many hearing and public comment periods. The students will attend all hearing and record the proceedings, and report back to the communities.

Task 3. Conduct Informational Meetings in the Communities.

From the information gathered during Tasks 1, 2, and 4, the student will give presentations to the communities. Through a series of meetings, the communities will be kept informed of decisions and issues that affect them. During the informational meetings, issues and concerns from the audience will be solicited. These issues will be researched and the results reported at a later date. Informational meeting on selected topics will also be conducted, topics might include dust control, impact on government services, how mines are closed, etc. The students will conduct some of the meetings.

Task 4. Research Appropriate Topics

The above Tasks will generate the need to research topics, and report to the communities.

Task 5. Publish Information on Appropriate Topics

In addition to informational meetings, information will be disseminated by publication in local newspapers. More importantly, the information gathered through meetings, hearings and citizen input will be posted on a website, www.mine-or-ours.info. This site is already in operation. The students will write articles for the site and local newpapers.

Both technical and social issues will be of concern to those affected by the mining project. The people and organizations in the communities have already indicated that social issues are very important to them. Michigan Tech will provide two graduate students, one in mining engineering and one in public policy. Depending on the level of support, an additional student in a mineral related discipline will participate. Undergraduate students will also participate.

Option 1. 2/3 Fulltime Equivalent Support. ($22,000)

This option includes 1/3 support for a PhD Student at MTU in Mining Engineering. The student already has 2/3 support through a fellowship. He has six years experience in both surface and underground precious metal mining. His studies include ore reserves, mine design, and mineral economics; he is already involved in the Initiative.

The option also includes 1/3 support for a student in the social sciences studying the impact of technology on society. DETAILS.

Option 2. Fulltime Equivalent Support. ($36,000)

In this option, the two students above will also be supported. In addition, an additional student in the Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences Department will receive 1/3 time support. The student will be selected in consultation with Kennecott.

Support Activities

In addition to graduate student support, both options include travel for the students to and from meetings, undergraduate assistants for the graduate students, and some expenses for the advisor to the students.

ADD tuition, stipend, and expenses.

Communities in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula are asking for help. With strong global markets for metals, significant investment in mineral exploration continues to occur in the area. Local projects have reached an advanced stage, and operating mines loom large. The current mining exploration has created conflict within many communities worried about the effects of possible major mining projects.

The Upper Peninsula is rich is many ways. It contains many small communities with resource-dependent economies. The history and culture of the area are unique and complex. Its environment contains a multitude of streams and lakes and borders on two Great Lakes. Its biodiversity includes many threatened and endangered species.

Concerned citizens, civic groups, and local governments have asked Michigan Technological University for help in understanding the vast array of often conflicting information that faces them. As a science-based University team supported by social scientists, MTU takes the middle and neutral ground. Cognizant of the multitude of hazards and benefits associated with these projects, we would help by providing access to a wide range of available technical and sociological expertise. Many of the stakeholders already support our effort to be a neutral clearinghouse for information on mining, and they are collecting money for some of our expenses. A volunteer website is in operation: www.mine-or-ours.info. Our project goal is to provide trustworthy information for the communities to make crucial decisions. Our method is community and civic organization involvement, which has already begun. Township Supervisors, County Supervisors, the regional Chamber of Commerce, the Governor’s Office, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, and several high schools are a few of the groups that have expressed support for our project.

Mining projects raise very difficult, complex issues. Mines can be among the most problematic uses of land. Some mines bring large numbers of new people to an area for employment, only to end in a few years, and result in destabilizing economic cycles. Proposed projects frequently polarize communities and create bitter divisions that persist for years.

Michigan Tech’s expertise in mining technology, biological science, ecology, natural resource policy, and rural community sociology, coordinated with a neutral community-based outreach program for all the stakeholders, can help resolve many of these conflicts, as together we explore the myriad potential negative and positive impacts of mining proposals.

MTU proposes to create a clearinghouse of information housed within the Sustainable Futures Institute at Michigan Tech. MTU further proposes to initiate local town meetings and workgroups, involving the university, mining companies, government agencies, local school systems, civic organizations and community groups. For this effort, MTU is seeking the financial assistance of private foundations and government agencies to help support a multi-year program of community assistance.

Mining is so basic to human needs that it will not, indeed cannot, go away. A society dependent on mineral products must mitigate its affects. This proposal can ensure positive outcomes for mining projects. In addition to helping those presently impacted by the proposed mining, MTU hopes to develop a new process methodology for dealing with these projects in the future in other areas around the world. The project is timely; Michigan has passes a mining law that includes citizen input to policy decisions and mining regulations. This is a chance for citizens to help make policy and to experience policy outcomes.

Mining in the Upper Peninsula must not impact the large freshwater ecosystem of the Great Lakes. Solving the impact of mining supports a sustainable environment. Sustainable mining means that absolutely no environmental legacy will be paid by the children of the Upper Peninsular communities. While the immediate issues are Michigan problems, solutions pioneered in the UP will benefit others throughout the nation.

Michigan Tech envisions a multi-year project ending when the affected communities are largely satisfied with the outcome. The Initiative: 1) engage experts in science, engineering, and public policy, 2) provide expenses for community volunteers (many have already stepped forward), 3) meet the costs associated with tracking the process of the project through permitting and government agencies, 4) disseminate critical information to the communities through open meetings and a website, and 5) provide a coordinator to oversee the effort. The project team is pursuing multiple funding sources.

Our project is unique with a unique goal: informed people planning their own destiny when facing difficult decisions. We ask for help: 1) funding for at least part of the project (we will submit a full proposal to you through Michigan Tech), 2) advice on our proposal, 3) advice on funding opportunities. The success of this environmental project will have important and beneficial consequences beyond Michigan in protecting the environment, resource conservation, and public health.