Highland Copper has finished a $15 million environmental mitigation program at its Copperwood Mine near Wakefield in Gogebic County. The company announced in September 2025 that crews created roughly 18 acres of compensating wetlands and planted nearly 20,000 native trees, wildflowers, sedges and rushes, moving more than 250,000 cubic yards of soil.

The work included replacing culverts on Choate Road with a clear-span bridge over Bluff Creek to improve fish passage. Site manager Mike Foley called the combined stream diversions "the longest stream reconstruction project in the state of Michigan" during a July 2025 site tour with TV6.

Jay Roberts, the project's environmental scientist, told TV6 in July 2025 that the goal at the Gypsy Creek mitigation area was "high-quality wetland in perpetuity, that will last far after the mine project is done and closed." Painted turtles and killdeer have already moved in, according to the Daily Mining Gazette.

Under Michigan rules enforced by the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE), that work had to be done before Highland could build a tailings disposal facility or begin mining.

The environmental milestone cleared the way for public investment. The Michigan Strategic Fund approved a $50 million performance-based grant for the project on Aug. 25 by a 7-2 vote on the company's portion. The underground copper mine must secure $150 million in additional financing by March 31, 2028, before drawing on the funds.

Andrea Martin, the project's environmental director, told the Daily Mining Gazette in July 2025 that Highland posted financial assurance with the state. She described it as money held "kind of like in escrow." EGLE holds the funds and releases portions as the company meets benchmarks. If Highland fails to perform or walks away, the state keeps the money to address the site.

Copperwood is regulated under Part 632 of Michigan's Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, signed into law in December 2004 by Gov. Jennifer Granholm. The law was developed cooperatively between the mining industry and leading environmental groups.

InvestUP CEO Marty Fittante pointed to the Eagle Mine in Marquette County as evidence the standards work. "We're living it in Marquette County," Fittante told TV6 in August 2026. Rep. Karl Bohnak said in an Aug. 25 InvestUP statement that Michigan "has some of the strictest environmental standards in the country and Copperwood meets all of them," calling the Eagle Mine proof those standards work.

Not everyone supports the project. Protect the Porkies, an environmental group, said in a July 2025 statement that the site near the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park "is not an appropriate location for any heavy industrial activity whatsoever."

Highland CEO Barry O'Shea told the Strategic Fund board the company is preparing for construction in 2028. Fittante said a feasibility analysis is expected in the first quarter of 2027.