MAINE MONITOR • February 14, 2024
After several years of back-and-forth, regulators on Wednesday rejected Wolfden Resources Corporation’s plans to mine for zinc and copper in northern Penobscot County, a densely forested area east of the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. In a 5-2 vote, the Maine Land Use Planning Commission denied an application to rezone 374 acres near Pickett Mountain that would have opened the door to metallic mining in the area by allowing Wolfden to apply for a mining permit from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. Maine, with some of the strictest mining and water quality standards in the country, prohibits digging for metals in open pits larger than three acres. There have not been active metal mines in the state for decades, and no company has applied for a permit since a particularly strict law passed in 2017. Wolfden was the first company to attempt metallic mining in Maine since the regulations were passed.