Opponents of a $50 million grant toward a controversial copper mine are challenging the funding in court.
The award was made by an appointed board without lawmakers weighing in, despite three earlier attempts to fund it.
The company says the state money is key to more financing, but the opponents want more scrutiny of the process.

Opponents are going to court in hopes of blocking a controversial $50 million grant Michigan awarded in August to fund construction of a Canadian company’s copper mine in the western Upper Peninsula.

The money was approved by the Michigan Strategic Fund after several failed attempts by economic developers and regional lawmakers to subsidize the Copperwood Mine project with taxpayer money.

Supporters have said the mine will boost the local economy over its 11-year lifespan. Critics point to the site’s proximity to Lake Superior, the North Country Trail and Porcupine Mountain State Park.

The filing made Monday in Ingham County Circuit Court by the grassroots Protect the Porkies questions oversight of the public funding, with the $50 million coming from the also-controversial Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve (SOAR) fund.

The large-scale development fund has been defunded by lawmakers, who lost interest after the high-dollar spending yielded limited job growth and local backlash.

The money for the Copperwood award was authorized by lawmakers for an unnamed company in 2022. Other SOAR votes were promised to go through a public approval before lawmakers after the strategic fund vote.

But with the Copperwood award, the Michigan Economic Development Corp. said the funds went unused, making them available for the mine funding. State officials say the earlier appropriation means that the award faces no further approval by legislators.

That decision demands accountability, Tom Grotewohl, executive director of Protect the Porkies, told Bridge Michigan.

“Regardless of how one feels about the proposed Copperwood Mine, all should acknowledge the (strategic fund board) has set an extraordinarily dangerous precedent for future handouts of public money to foreign companies beyond the purview of elected lawmakers,” Grotewohl said.

MEDC spokesperson Danielle Emerson said the department had no comment on the filing.

Copperwood is planned by Highland Copper, which approached the state for the subsidy in 2023. It recently pegged construction costs at $450 million and has said 380 people will be hired at an average wage of $80,000.

Paula GardnerArticles

Copperwood Mine foes sue to block $50M grant for project near Lake Superior