Rio Tinto, the global mining company whose subsidiary Kennecott Eagle Minerals has sought to develop a nickel sulfide mine near Marquette, has withdrawn a request to prospect for minerals on public forest land in the western Upper Peninsula, the Lake Superior Mining News reports.

On Nov. 6 Rio Tinto notified the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Ottawa National Forest (ONF) that it no longer wishes to pursue mineral exploration in a 395 acre parcel of the Ottawa National Forest in Iron County known as the “Bates Parcel.”

LSMN reports that residents near the proposed exploration area, and the Forest Service, have raised concerns about the potential environmental impacts of Kennecott’s planned exploration.

Iron County has been dealing with mine contamination for years. Acid drainage from the Buck and Dober mines, which produced iron ore, continues to pollute the Iron River.

Bates Township has a history of questioning potentially dangerous mining practices on public land. In 1980, the township, along with Houghton County’s Portage Township and Baraga, Delta and Charlevoix counties adopted a resolution opposing the leasing of state land for uranium exploration and mining.

Concerns about the environmental impact of mines in Michigan are also behind a proposed 2010 ballot measure to restrict sulfide and uranium mines.