Ugh.
Faced with an uncertain regulatory future and a global glut of iron ore, Gogebic Taconite officials on Friday said they are closing their Wisconsin office indefinitely.
It’s not clear if or when Gogebic, a subsidiary of a Florida company, might reconsider the Wisconsin project.
“We will continue to investigate the possibility of pursuing a permit to mine the Upson site but cannot justify maintaining an office in Hurley without a prospect of immediate action,” Bill Williams, president of Gogebic Taconite LLC, said in a statement late Friday afternoon.
And so it ends… it is worth noting that after all of the heat and fire from the lefties about how adjusting Wisconsin’s laws to be a bit easier on mining operations would “gut the environment” and we would all be drinking sewage or something… those laws were still sufficiently onerous to prevent the mine from opening despite billions in provable reserves at this site. So Wisconsin won’t get the new mining jobs and economic activity after all. And perhaps it is for the best if the environmental concerns could not be sufficiently mitigated.
Also noteworthy is the recent drop in the price of iron and steel. It’s a big drop, as was the drop in the price of copper.
While the green dopes were a problem, they could be dealt with. But the ROI on the mine was no longer attractive.
Agreed. If the price of iron was skyrocketing, then it makes more sense to spend all of the extra money on environmental damage mitigation. But prices are dropping and the future is uncertain. The ROI isn’t there.
Does anyone besides me smell a rat in the commodities markets?
True, the price of iron ore was probably the killer on GTac, but it has been going down for years. Other more established iron miners have been slowing down or shuttering mines in recent years. GTac, Walker and Tiffany knew that going in. And they knew that the new mining bill would not solve any of the wetland issues as well. the new law actually will make solving those problems more cumbersome because of the two approval tracks required rather than the previous concurrent review. And the timeline will not be shortened as hoped. Tiffany admitted as much later when he said that the purpose of the law was to avoid lawsuits (read CYA) rather than get the mine in place.
So, Owen, includes all of the story. Thanks
It’s hilarious to see you tin foilers try to blame democrats, environmentalists and assorted “lefties” for the mine failure. Although I credit some of you with referring to the market prices, the thought that the international commodity markets are somehow being manipulated by the left is something that you should pitch as a show to the SyFy Channel.
Look, I’ll explain…at the time of the initial excitement the price of 62% standard content iron ore was $190/ton, it is currently about $62/ton. The price drop is greater than the price drop in oil and I’m certain that the oil markets have not been infiltrated by liberals.
Additionally, you righties have yourselves to blame. The Roy Hill Mine in Australia, a mine with TEN times the investment that GT proposed, is coming on line in September and its stated break even production price…$45/ton. And who owns that mine? None other than right-wing darling Gina Rinehart. You can’t haul mud out of No. Wisc. for $45/ton and make a profit.