LANSING, MI — Michigan lawmakers did not include a $50 million earmark to aid development of an Upper Peninsula copper mine in the final draft of next year’s state budget.
The $75.9 billion 2026 state budget finalized on Friday, Oct. 3 left out money for Wakefield Township to improve infrastructure around the proposed Copperwood Mine that would be built near Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park in Gogebic County.
Republicans included the money in the House budget passed in late August after a $50 million state grant for mine developer Highland Copper was not approved in 2024.
The one-time appropriation sponsored by Rep. Greg Markkanen, R-Hancock, would have helped upgrade local roads, water systems, energy and broadband infrastructure.
The $425 million copper mine is fully permitted but opposed by environmental groups and Indigenous tribes due, in part, to its proximity to Lake Superior and the popular wilderness park. It is supported by local officials and economic developers who say it would drive growth and create jobs in a distressed region.
If opened, Copperwood would be the first copper-focused mine in the U.P. since the White Pine Mine closed in 1997.
Highland Copper is gathering capitol to open the mine, which CEO Barry O’Shea said in a May interview with Stockhouse would be ready to start construction in 2026. The company has described the $50 million in state money as a “catalyst” to help fund site infrastructure.
Highland Copper awarded mine and processing plant engineering and design contracts this year and updated plans to boost its potential copper recovery totals. In September, the company announced a non-binding letter of interest from the U.S. Export-Import Bank for up to $250 million in debt financing repayable over 11 years.
O’Shea cited bipartisan legislative support, local support and Trump administration orders aimed at strengthening domestic copper supply as project attributes. “Copperwood really is a project that needs to be built in the near term,” he said.
Local officials in the western U.P. had advocated for the earmark, arguing that a rebuilt County Road 519 would improve access to the state park as well as local industrial parks, and enhanced broadband would improve emergency response.
Messages left with Mandy Lake, city manager of Bessemer who is also Wakefield Township supervisor, were not immediately returned. A woman who answered the main city line in Bessemer called the state budget news “very disappointing.”
Mine opponents issued a statement praising the cut.
“Lawmakers weighed all sides of the issue and decided that rolling out infrastructure into an uninhabited area to help an inexperienced foreign mining company was not a good use of taxpayer funding,” said Tom Grotewhol, head of the Protect the Porkies campaign.
Grotewhol said the opposition campaign “fully supports state money coming to Gogebic County — but let it fund locally-owned businesses and other endeavors that do not export our wealth out of the area at the expense of the environment. This is a win for everyone, both ecologically and economically.”
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is expected to sign the budget into law before a temporary spending measure expires next week. Lawmakers finalized the budget overnight Friday after lawmakers failed to meet a constitutionally mandated Oct. 1 deadline.
The $75.9 billion budget funds state operations for the 2026 fiscal year, which runs through Sept. 30, 2026. It includes another $5 billion in contingency funds.
The deal prevents a state government shutdown after months of contentious negotiations that resulted in two missed budget deadlines. The deal involves significant changes to tax policy, road funding and education spending. It includes $51.8 billion in omnibus government spending and $24 billion for education.
