PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 13, 2023
The couple that owns a lithium deposit in Newry potentially worth more than a billion dollars is urging the Legislature to act quickly to “clarify” state mining laws so they can mine the find as soon as possible. Mary and Gary Freeman want lawmakers to “restor(e) Maine mining law to its pre-2017 wording.” Doing so, they say, would mean the deposit would be regulated under Maine’s quarrying regulations, rules that are much less stringent than the state’s laws governing mining for metals such as copper, zinc and silver, which can leave contaminated water and tailings.