Dave Blouin:
Well, the the historic sort of Badger mining, if you will, in southwest Wisconsin — these were largely relatively shallow. A number of them were underground mines. There were very few open-pit mines just because of the nature of the geology. They were chasing veins, if you will, of the minerals, lead and zinc largely. And they were very small scale. You know, the deeper you go, the more difficult it gets. You have to dewater the groundwater and deal with the wastewater. So, they were very, you know, relatively small operations. Fast forward to today — what we're seeing now are companies going back after deposits that were previously uneconomic. They're smaller, or even if they're larger, they're low-grade because the high-grade ore was largely harvested a long time ago. And so what naturally happens is that by chasing those deposits that were previously uneconomic, that are low-grade and maybe high quantity, is that you're actually increasing the amount of wastes that you produce. And, you know, mining companies, largely, are waste handlers more than they are miners. They're in the mining waste disposal business, because the vast bulk of the material that they extract is not economic ore. It's waste material that has to be dealt with perpetually to maintain its safety and avoid risk to the environment.