Sample blasting might not be needed for Wisconsin mine

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A company looking to dig a huge iron mine just south of Lake Superior says it may not resort to blasting to obtain samples.

Gogebic Taconite wants to dig a 4½-mile long open pit mine in the Penokee Hills. The company asked the state Department of Natural Resources in June for permission to blast rock samples out of five sites to assess the iron deposit’s quality and ore would react to processing.

The Wisconsin State Journal reports the company has submitted a revised plan to the DNR. It calls for collecting sample rock from rubble left behind when U.S. Steel blasted the area in the early 1960s in lieu of a new round of blasting.