Eagle Mine (Michigan)
Eagle Mine is a small, high-grade underground nickel and copper mine in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. It is owned by Lundin Mining and is located on the Yellow Dog Plains in Michigamme Township, Marquette County, USA. It is the United States’ only primary nickel mine.
Production began in September 2014, with an expected life through 2027. The mine is planned to produce about 440 million pounds of nickel and 429 million pounds of copper, along with smaller amounts of cobalt and trace metals such as platinum, palladium, silver, gold, and others.
The mine reaches about 1,774 feet underground at its deepest point, the deepest place in the U.S. accessible by a car driving down a mine ramp. The ore body bottom is around 1,000 feet deep and covers roughly 6 acres. The Eagle deposit formed about 1.1 billion years ago during the Midcontinent Rift. Mining is underground, using a decline and long-hole stoping methods.
Surface facilities cover about 150 acres, while ore is processed offsite at the Humboldt Mill, a nearby former iron ore mill. The mine is designed to backfill as mining progresses and to be reclaimed after operations end.
Permitting and community response have been mixed. Regulators approved the project after review in 2007, but there were lawsuits and protests from some Indigenous groups and environmentalists over groundwater concerns. In 2014, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that regulators were within their rights to permit the mine.
In 2022, Eagle Mine was noted by Guinness World Records for the greatest altitude change achieved by an electric vehicle in the mine.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 23:30 (CET).