September 14, 2026.
A $50 million package of Michigan grants for the proposed Copperwood copper mine in Gogebic County is drawing criticism from environmental advocates, a former Michigan Strategic Fund board member and tribal governments, while state officials and project supporters say the investment will bring jobs and infrastructure improvements to the western Upper Peninsula.
The Michigan Strategic Fund Board voted on August 25, 2026, to approve two Strategic Site Readiness Program grants totaling $50 million. The grants include $44,971,691 for Copperwood Resources Inc. and $5,028,309 for the Gogebic County Road Commission. Copperwood Resources is a wholly owned subsidiary of Highland Copper, a mining company headquartered in British Columbia, Canada.
The Copperwood project is proposed in Wakefield and Ironwood townships in Gogebic County, in the western Upper Peninsula.
The Legislature did not approve a new Copperwood appropriation.
The central issue surrounding the grant is how the Michigan Strategic Fund was able to approve the money without a new legislative appropriation specifically for Copperwood.
According to the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, the Michigan Legislature appropriated $250 million for the Strategic Site Readiness Program in 2022, including $50 million for site-readiness activities involving projects with identified end users. The state says the money used for the 2026 Copperwood grants came from that previously appropriated funding.
Michigan Advance reported that the Strategic Fund had previously approved $50 million for Copperwood in 2024, but that money was never appropriated by the Legislature specifically for the project despite subsequent attempts to include it in state budgets.
Before the August 25 vote, MEDC officials said the money used for the new grants had already been transferred to the Strategic Fund through the 2022 budget supplemental. Because the Legislature had already appropriated the money to the Strategic Fund, MEDC said another legislative approval was not required before the board could award it.
The state's Strategic Site Readiness Program records list the Copperwood Resources grant as approved on August 25, 2026, with a projected award of up to $44.97 million.
Former Strategic Fund member questions the decision.
The process has drawn criticism from Cindy Warner, who served on the Michigan Strategic Fund Board from 2019 through 2025.
Following the August 25 vote, Warner questioned the use of funds associated with previous Strategic Fund actions and whether the Copperwood project should continue receiving state assistance after failing to meet an earlier financing requirement.
Under the previous Copperwood grant agreement, the company was required to obtain $150 million in financing before receiving funding. The new agreement gives the company until March 31, 2028, to meet the financing requirement.
Highland Copper has reported receiving a letter of interest for up to $250 million in potential debt financing from the Export-Import Bank of the United States. The company has said it intends to seek a binding loan agreement. A letter of interest, however, is not a finalized loan.
MEDC officials have defended the action, saying the Legislature had already transferred the site-readiness money to the Strategic Fund and that the current board had authority to determine how eligible funds would be used.
Critics describe the process differently.
Protect the Porkies, an organization opposing the Copperwood project, has characterized the state funding process as a way of circumventing previous legislative opposition and is seeking to have the grant overturned.
The organization has also questioned whether the state's action was legally permissible.
The public records reviewed for this story establish that previously appropriated Strategic Site Readiness Program funds were used for the August 25 grant. They do not establish that a court has determined the action to be illegal or unconstitutional.
The funding mechanism is therefore a matter of dispute between project opponents and state officials rather than a settled legal question.
Tribal governments have raised formal objections.
The funding controversy occurs alongside longstanding concerns from tribal governments regarding the proposed mine.
The Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians issued a formal letter opposing the Copperwood Mine and raised concerns about environmental effects, treaty-protected resources and cultural resources in the project area.
The tribe's history documents its connection to the Treaty of La Pointe of 1842. The tribe's chiefs were among those who signed treaties through which tribal lands were ceded to the United States while treaty rights were retained.
The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community also has treaty connections to the area. The text of the 1842 treaty identifies the Vieux Desert and other Lake Superior Chippewa bands among the parties to the treaty.
The tribal concerns are particularly relevant because treaty rights can involve hunting, fishing and gathering in ceded territories and because mining activity can potentially affect the natural resources on which those rights depend.
What Michigan says the project will provide.
Michigan officials describe Copperwood as a major economic-development opportunity for the western Upper Peninsula.
The state says the project is expected to create approximately 380 long-term jobs and about 300 additional construction jobs. The state estimates approximately $425 million in capital investment.
Michigan also describes copper as an important mineral for manufacturing, transportation, energy and national security.
The Strategic Fund grants are intended for site-readiness and infrastructure improvements. According to the state, those improvements include roads, energy and telecommunications infrastructure.
Environmental questions remain.
The proposed mine is near the Porcupine Mountains and Lake Superior, and opponents have raised concerns about potential impacts on water quality, tourism, recreation and surrounding natural resources.
At the Strategic Fund meeting, environmental advocates questioned the potential consequences of a failure of the mine's proposed tailings facility and its proximity to Lake Superior.
Michigan officials say the project will remain subject to environmental requirements and that the state will monitor compliance with five major permits under the Michigan Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act.
What is established.
The available public record establishes several facts:
- The Michigan Strategic Fund approved $50 million in grants connected to the Copperwood project on August 25, 2026.
- $44,971,691 was awarded to Copperwood Resources Inc.
- $5,028,309 was awarded to the Gogebic County Road Commission.
- Copperwood Resources is a subsidiary of Highland Copper, a company headquartered in British Columbia, Canada.
- The money came from the state's previously appropriated Strategic Site Readiness Program funds.
- The Legislature did not hold a new appropriation vote specifically authorizing the August 25, 2026, Copperwood grant.
- The Michigan Strategic Fund Board, rather than the Legislature, made the grant decision.
- The Lac Vieux Desert Band has formally expressed opposition to the proposed mine.
- Tribal concerns include environmental effects, treaty-protected resources and cultural resources.
- The project remains subject to state environmental permitting and other regulatory requirements.
What remains disputed is whether the Strategic Fund's use of previously appropriated funds was an appropriate exercise of its authority and whether additional legislative or legal action should be taken.
A debate that extends beyond the $50 million.
The Copperwood controversy is a debate over economic development, public funding, environmental protection, mining's potential impact on Lake Superior and the Porcupine Mountains, along with the protection of treaty rights and cultural resources.
