TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — A federal judge has refused a private outdoor sporting club’s plea to halt construction of a nickel and copper mine in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, saying the group failed to convince him that its lawsuit challenging the mine would be successful.

The Huron Mountain Club is suing to block the Rio Tinto Eagle Mine, claiming the company didn’t get federal permits that should have been required by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The exclusive club, which owns about 19,000 acres of forestland in Marquette County near Lake Superior, including an 11-mile stretch of the Salmon Trout River, claims the mine will damage the river and nearby wetlands.