The Wonder of Michigan's $5.6 Billion Underground Treasure

Source: Brian Hicks 04/22/2025

Brian Hicks of Wealth Daily explores how the Back Forty mine could represent abundant opportunity through tokenization.

Just 1.5 miles from Wisconsin’s border in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula sits one of the Midwest’s — perhaps America’s — most valuable undeveloped mineral sites.

It’s known as the Back Forty mine.

For more than 20 years, this site has been caught between economic opportunity and environmental concerns. Yet Back Forty represents more than just another story of community opposition. It exemplifies America’s dysfunctional mining policies, illustrates regulatory gridlock, and potentially offers the key to a new mining boom across the Midwest — if it can ever gain momentum.

A Find That Transformed Expectations

Back Forty was initially discovered in 2001 and subsequently purchased by Aquila Resources. The findings near the Menominee River — a waterway held sacred by the local Menominee Indian Tribe — were truly remarkable.

The location contains approximately 1.1 million ounces of gold, 1.2 billion pounds of zinc, 12.9 million ounces of silver, 287 million pounds of copper, and 25.4 million pounds of lead. Together, these form an extraordinary collection of essential and valuable metals for a country desperately seeking domestic resources.

Unlike distant Alaskan deposits such as Pebble or Donlin, Back Forty enjoys proximity to major roads, railway lines, and Great Lakes shipping routes. From a mining perspective, its location is ideal.

Regulatory Purgatory: Twenty Years of Standstill

Despite its advantageous position and tremendous value, Back Forty hasn’t produced any metal whatsoever. Since the early 2000s, Aquila Resources has navigated a complex array of environmental rules, permit challenges, public forums, and judicial decisions.

The central point of contention? Water.

Back Forty is situated just 150 feet from the Menominee River, which flows into Lake Michigan. Environmental advocates and the Menominee Tribe have expressed strong concerns, arguing that a surface sulfide mine this close to the watershed could cause devastating acid drainage issues.

Aquila secured preliminary permits from Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) in 2018, but legal challenges and appeals quickly emerged. Courts overturned several permits, including those for wetlands, air quality, and dam safety.

The situation evolved in 2021 when Canadian firm Gold Resource Corporation acquired Aquila for $30 million, assuming responsibility for permit applications and development strategies.

And while Washington has delayed for years, the minerals remain untapped. No employment. No income. No effect.

Now consider this possibility. . .

Accessing Billions Without Excavation

Instead of enduring another decade waiting for regulators to approve a single ounce, what if you could own underground gold immediately?

Introducing NatGold Digital Ltd. — an innovative digital system allowing investors partial ownership of certified, untapped gold and additional mineral reserves, such as those beneath Back Forty.

Through blockchain technology, NatGold transforms dormant mineral deposits into tradable digital assets.

No environmental harm. No waiting. No permit battles.

Simply digitized resource wealth, accessible through tokens supported by authentic geological assessments and confirmed underground value.

And it gets even better. . .

Trump’s Strategy to Release America’s Mineral Potential

With the Trump administration pledging to initiate a $10 trillion American mining expansion, NatGold’s timing couldn’t be more perfect.

Trump’s recent executive directives are pushing agencies to eliminate bureaucracy and unlock America’s concealed wealth — with NatGold leading this movement through a model that generates value from land before any excavation begins.

Back Forty serves as the demonstration. A multi-billion-dollar mine, inaccessible and forgotten, now potentially monetized digitally and traded globally.

This isn’t some distant dream.

It’s the contemporary approach to 21st-century resource investing.

And it’s happening now.

Let me elaborate . . .

A Development in Transition

Gold Resource Corp. (GORO:NYSE.American), primarily recognized for its productive sites in Nevada and Mexico, now controls Back Forty. And they’re completely rethinking the approach.

GORO has revealed plans to shift from an exclusively open-pit operation to a staged development beginning with underground extraction. This could significantly reduce surface disruption and environmental impact — potentially making the project more acceptable to regulators and residents.

Yet even with this revised strategy, the permitting challenges persist. As of early 2025, the mine still lacks a critical Part 632 mining permit and updated wetlands approval. The schedule remains uncertain, and Michigan officials show no indication of expediting anything.

Why Back Forty Matters Today

Back Forty’s importance extends well beyond Michigan. The mine represents a test of America’s capability to responsibly develop its own critical minerals, within its borders, under contemporary environmental standards.

Zinc, for example, plays a crucial role in steel galvanization, essential for renewable energy infrastructure, bridges, and electric vehicle charging stations. Copper remains indispensable for everything from electric cars to wind turbines. Gold and silver function as both financial safeguards and vital components in electronic devices.

As global tensions increase and supply chains fragment, America needs projects like Back Forty — secure, strategic, and domestic.

Here’s the irony: If Back Forty were situated in Ontario or Quebec, it might already be operational. Canadian mining provinces function with more transparent regulatory frameworks, stronger political commitment, and established permitting timelines.

Instead, GORO and the Back Forty team face the typical American dilemma: vast resources underfoot, but construction stalled.

Time Is Running Out

Gold Resource Corporation confronts a strategic decision point. Investors grow restless. Expenses continue rising. And the value of gold, silver, and base metals keeps climbing.

If Back Forty remains stalled for another five years, GORO may face pressure to sell, shelve the development, or seek partnership. However, if permitting gains momentum — and the phased underground approach proves successful — the mine could become GORO’s flagship asset and demonstrate modern American mining done properly.

The metals exist. The infrastructure awaits. Global demand intensifies.

All that’s missing is authorization.

NatGold: Digital Access to Stranded Resources

What if another path existed to unleash Back Forty’s potential without waiting generations for approvals? What if the gold — and all other metals — could start generating economic activity without moving any earth?

That’s NatGold’s purpose.

By tokenizing certified, unmined gold and other mineral reserves, NatGold presents a revolutionary approach for stranded assets like Back Forty. This method enables digital ownership and monetization of underground resources — converting static assets into dynamic stores of value that can be traded, used as collateral, or leveraged as protection against market volatility.

With Back Forty’s estimated 1.1 million ounces of gold alone, the tokenization opportunity is enormous. NatGold doesn’t circumvent environmental considerations; it simply recognizes that while regulatory processes slowly advance, investors and nations alike need access to mineral wealth now — not years or decades later.

Back Forty stands as another glaring example of America’s mineral paralysis. A billion-dollar resource, critical to national infrastructure and energy independence, remains unused while the country imports identical metals from geopolitical rivals.

Tokenization isn’t an evasion — it’s an awakening.

NatGold could restore value to land without disturbing it. It’s a transformative concept whose moment has arrived. And Back Forty might be the ideal testing ground to prove its effectiveness.

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Important Disclosures:

1. As of the date of this article, officers and/or employees of Streetwise Reports LLC (including members of their household) own securities of NatGold Digital.
2. Brian Hicks: I, or members of my immediate household or family, own securities of: NatGold Digital. I determined which companies would be included in this article based on my research and understanding of the sector.
3. Statements and opinions expressed are the opinions of the author and not of Streetwise Reports, Street Smart, or their officers. The author is wholly responsible for the accuracy of the statements. Streetwise Reports was not paid by the author to publish or syndicate this article. Streetwise Reports requires contributing authors to disclose any shareholdings in, or economic relationships with, companies that they write about. Any disclosures from the author can be found below. Streetwise Reports relies upon the authors to accurately provide this information and Streetwise Reports has no means of verifying its accuracy.
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( Companies Mentioned: GORO:NYSE.American, )

Source: https://www.streetwisereports.com/article/2025/04/22/the-wonder-of-michigans-5-6-billion-underground-treasure.html