CEO of Canadian Mining Company Outlines Goals for Drilling in Central Wisconsin

Tuesday, May 13th, 2025 -- 8:00 AM

(Danielle Kaeding, Wisconsin Public Radio) The CEO of a Canadian mining company has outlined goals to expand drilling for metals like copper, gold and zinc at multiple sites in Wisconsin either this fall or early next year.

According to Danielle Kaeding with Wisconsin Public Radio, GreenLight Metals, which does business as Green Light Wisconsin, announced plans in April to drill for copper and gold at the Bend Deposit in Taylor County this summer.

The deposit is believed to contain 4.2 million tons of mostly copper and gold. Now, CEO Matt Filgate said in an investor webinar that the company also hopes to explore the Reef, Swede, Lobo and Lobo East deposits in the near future.

Filgate said the goal is to seek out permits and begin drilling early next year at the Reef deposit near Wausau and Lobo deposits near Crandon. The Reef deposit is estimated to contain around 454,000 tons of gold, but the Lobo and Swede deposits have yet to be thoroughly explored.

Filgate said the company is conducting geophysical surveys at the Swede deposit in Jackson County next week with a goal to begin drilling in September or October.

“We see an opportunity here to come back in and go explore for these critical metal deposits that the U.S. so desperately needs,” Filgate said. Filgate has stressed the need for critical metals to support electrification and the shift away from fossil fuels, even as President Donald Trump has doubled down on coal and proposed cutting billions for renewable energy and electric vehicle chargers.

Even so, Trump has sought to boost domestic mineral production with a goal of creating jobs and reducing foreign reliance on metals used for EVs and microprocessors.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has not received any information regarding the company’s plans beyond the Bend deposit, said Molly Gardner, the DNR’s metallic mining coordinator.

The company would need to submit a notice of intent to drill at those sites. She also suggested Green Light resubmit plans for the Reef deposit near Wausau since the company hasn’t responded to requests for additional information since 2022.

Gardner called the company’s proposed timelines ambitious. “But not to say it can’t be done. They just need to get the ball rolling on some of those sites,” Garner said, noting agency review would take at least a few months.

The company’s plans may require various permits depending on the site. In the meantime, Filgate said the company plans to begin drilling at the Bend deposit near Medford in June even as the Lac du Flambeau tribe is challenging DNR approval of the company’s plan.

Tribal officials didn’t respond to requests for comment.

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