Imerys hosts public meeting on Forest Road 4 closure
CopperArea.com
Forest Road 4 is closed, limiting access to the LOST Arnett Trail./CopperArea.com
The Imerys perlite mining plant manager Tom Hawk and a corporate representative from Imerys, Todd Whitacre, hosted a public meeting on Friday evening to address the closure of Forest Road 4 south of Superior.
In June, Imerys closed access to Forest Road Four when the company began developing a plan to conduct ore sampling in the Old Chicago pit and the New Chicago Pit. Both of these pits have been inactive for over a decade, but a new type of drywall being manufactured may require the grade of perlite that may be present in the inactive pits. In order to determine of the grade is sufficient the mining company must test ore. If the ore can be used the company may go into production. However it could be up to a year or more before the mining pits are prepared for active mining. Imerys owns the land and patented mining claims where both pits are located – they are not located on Forest Service land.
Imerys corporate headquarters are located in Paris, France and there are multiple operations in America and across the world.
