From the outset, environmental groups opposed the process of extracting metals from the sulfide ore, which if not properly handled may create sulfuric acid as a waste product.
[1] Other groups formed in opposition to the mine, such as Protectors of the Wolf River (POW'R), and eventually worked with Al Gedicks on coordinating environmentalist efforts.
[citation needed] A similar proposal by the Canadian company Noranda to mine a deposit in Oneida County failed in part because of heavy opposition by the Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe.
The Ojibwe feared the consequences that runoff from the sulfide mine could have on the reservation's Rice Lake, a site of immense cultural and historical importance to the band.
In addition to non-Indian residents all along the bank, the Menominee and Mohican (Stockbridge-Munsee) reservations lay downstream and brought more concerns of indigenous people to the table.
[6] The Mole Lake community opposed it from the start, which put them at odds with many in nearby towns who hoped that mining jobs would provide steady employment for the depressed region.
[citation needed] In addition to the negative environmental effects on the Wolf River, the Sokaogon Chippewa, as well as the Menominee, who resided directly downstream from the proposed mine, were facing the potential for their food sources to be contaminated.
In addition, the spearing conflict and an educational campaign undertaken by the four tribes to raise awareness of Native issues, had the effect of showing white residents the value of the treaty rights possessed by the Indians.
Coming off a 1996 victory in the Bad River Train Blockade, this coalition's greatest success came when Governor Thompson was forced by political pressure to sign a mining moratorium into state law on Earth Day 1998.
[8] In a mid-1990s lawsuit finally decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2002, the right of Indian nations to have "Treatment as a State" status on applicable issues was interpreted to apply to setting and enforcing clean air and water standards.
[9] This was the end of the economic viability of the project, and on October 28, 2003, the Mole Lake Ojibwe and Forest County Potawatomi used $16.5 million worth of casino revenue to purchase the mine site and Nicolet Minerals Inc., its latest owner.