August 18, 2010: Cooperative Mineral Resources has offered to sample all wells in the City of Emily, so that residents know the level of manganese and iron in their wells. The sampling is only being offered to help area residents learn about their particular well. Questions and Answers concerning area well sampling is available here.
August 3 , 2010: Great News! EPA approves final permit needed for demonstration project. Today the Environmental Protection Agency approved an Injection Well Permit, allowing Cooperative Mineral Resources (CMR) to move forward in its plans to conduct a small bulk sampling demonstration project. The five acre manganese site is now under rennovation and construction to prepare the site for the proposed mid-September demonstration.
August 2, 2010: Letters were sent to landowners within one mile of site to offer free well testing. CMR has been asked by the City Council and Planning and Zoning to provide free well testing to any landowner within one mile of the manganese site. Those letters were sent on August 2.
Projected timelines (next steps) as of June 25, 2010...click here
July 16, 2010: Press release: The City of Emily approved a fee agreement on Tuesday, July 13 between Cooperative Mineral Resources and Emily. Full story here
June 25, 2010: A lot has happened since the May DNR Record of Decision where no Environmental Impact Statement would be required for a potential fall bulk sample demonstration project. Many regulatory permits have been issued...click here.
June 23: The Planning and Zoning Commission of Emily approved our Interim Use Permit...click here for full story
MAY 26, 2010: Yesterday the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced their Record of Decision on the determination for a need for an Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Bulk Sample Manganese Mineral Extraction Demonstration Project slated for later this summer.
The DNR has determined NO EIS IS NECESSARY. Now the project can move forward to obtain necessary permits and work with the City of Emily for ordinance amendments. The demonstration bulk sampling project is slated for September pending all necessary permits, etc. are obtained in a timely manner.
The Public comments on the Environmental Assessment Worksheet are now publically available as is the DNR Record of Decision (below).
DNR RECORD OF DECISION (CLICK HERE)
PUBLIC COMMENTS (CLICK HERE)
February 24, 2010: We held a meeting for the Environmental Responsibility Committee (ERC), the group that meets to insure that all community concerns are aired and addressed. The meeting for the ERC and general public was Thursday, February 25 at 1:00 p.m. at the Emily City Hall.
December 7, 2009: The Environmental Assessment Worksheet has been submitted and is currently being reviewed by government agencies prior to them opening it up for public review and comment. The latest summary of what's currently happening is available here. (click here for summary).
October 29, 2009: The Environmental Responsibility Committee (ERC), that monitors the activities of Cooperative Mineral Resources (CMR) in the proposed Emily manganese project, met for the third time on Wednesday, October 14, to review data and information gained from aquifer and ore extraction tests that were conducted recently. (click here for summary)
Environmental Review Committee (ERC) met July 8, 2009 where Three power point presentations were given as follows:
#1 Groundwater Impacts and Subsidence (click here)
#2 Proposed equipment design (click here)
#3 Acquisition History (click here)
July 8 ERC 2nd meeting summary (click here)
ERC Formed and met June 18, 2009 (click here)
Power Point on Manganese Extraction Proposal for Emily Minnesota (click here)
Fact Sheet on Emily Project (click here)
To Receive Updates via e-mail (click here) and put Manganese updates in the subject
Press Release May 13, 2009
Local Manganese Deposit Creates New Business Opportunity
Crow Wing Power met with the Emily City Council on Tuesday, May 12 to present a proposal to extract manganese from a mineral deposit in Emily.
Char Kinzer, Crow Wing Power PR manager, said the operation would not be mining as we’re used to. There will be no open pits and no use of chemicals, but extraction will be done through a boreholeprocess using existin g groundwater.
"We're proposing a method of extracting manganese without disturbing the environment of the city of Emily," Kinzer said. "It’s an opportunity we took charge of after foreign investors wanted to buy the land and mineral rights.”
“We’ve received feedback from several of our members that are pleased the valuable manganese has Crow Wing Power as a watchdog because of our local ties to the community and our track record for success and proper management.”
Mike Zipko, spokesman for Cooperative Mineral Resources, a subsidiary of Crow Wing Power created for the manganese project, said once the project is reviewed by local, state and federal authorities the goal would be to set up a demonstration project by this fall to determine if the bore process technology is feasible and economically viable.
Zipko assured the City Council that this project will be monitored closely by a team of experts, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Health. Top engineering and mining firms have been contracted as well.
According to the plans if all the environmental tests return positive, it would take five years to extract the manganese from the site.
Kinzer said the manganese deposit is the largest in North America and recently had been pursued by foreign interests. All of the Manganese used in this country is imported from foreign countries.
"The previous land owner and Crow Wing Power determined it would not be in the best interest of our local economy and environment if a foreign company purchased it and mined the manganese," Kinzer said.
Zipko said it has not been determined what would be done with the mined manganese but it could be sold for steel, used in coal-burning power plants to reduce emissions or used in high tech batteries for electric vehicles.
Kinzer added, the money for the purchase came from proceeds of the sale of Hunt Technologies and not from rate payers.
"There's the potential to return millions of dollars back to the community, to the co-op members and throughout the region," Zipko said. "This local company stepped up. It's a nonprofit working on a mining project. That doesn't happen very often."
Zipko said the project would bring jobs and $20 million to $25 million in tax revenue to the local and state economy.
“When we are done recovering all of the manganese, which we think will take about five years from start to finish, we will develop the site into a park and give it to the city of Emily,” said Kinzer
Contacts:
Mike Zipko, Goff & Howard Brad Moore, Barr Engineering
651-292-8062 952-832-2924
mikez@goffhoward.com bmoore@barr.com
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