Tag: Twin Metals

Biden Admin Blocks Mining on 225,000 Acres of Mineral-Rich Land

The Center Square

President Joe Biden’s administration says electric vehicle adoption is key to curbing climate change but blocked mining of rare earth minerals on more than 225,000 acres of federal land for more than 20 years.

The Biden administration banned mining near the Boundary Waters on the Duluth Complex in Minnesota, which Twin Metals says contains 95 percent of the nation’s nickel reserves; 88 percent of the cobalt; 51 percent of the platinum; 48 percent of the palladium, and ​34 percent of the nation’s copper.

Read the full story

Twin Cities Legislators Introduce Bill to Block Mining Facility in Northeast Minnesota

Admin

More than two dozen DFL legislators — nearly all from the suburbs — have signed onto a bill that would attempt to put permanent brakes on a highly contentious, planned copper-nickel mining facility near Ely that could bring upwards of 2,000 new jobs to northeast Minnesota.

Critics of what would be Minnesota’s first copper-nickel facility, proposed by Twin Metals, argue that copper-nickel mining in the area would irreversibly pollute the environment in the nearby Boundary Waters Canoe Area. Supporters have said that Twin Metals has demonstrated its plant will use the best available technology to mitigate and prevent such pollution. The project remains up in the air as Twin Metals has sued the Biden administration over lease rights to the project.

Read the full story

Biden Bashed for Action That Could Ban Minnesota Mining Project

The Center Square

President Joe Biden’s administration wants to lead an electric vehicle (EV) revolution, but apparently doesn’t want domestic production of rare earth minerals vital to EVs.

The Biden administration announced a two-year study on a proposed Twin Metals copper-nickel mine in northeast Minnesota that could delay it for 20 years and stop one of the few planned copper-nickel mines in the nation while the U.S attempts to pivot to EVs from gasoline-powered internal combustion vehicles.

Read the full story

Walz Nominee for DNR Commissioner Worked for Activists Suing to Stop Mining Project

Anthony Gockowski

Gov.-elect Tim Walz (D-MN) named Sarah Strommen his commissioner for the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Thursday in a move some Republicans say raises “red flags.” Strommen has worked in various roles in her more than 20-year career of interacting with the DNR, and most recently served as the assistant commissioner for the divisions of Fish and Wildlife, and Parks and Trails at the Minnesota DNR. But she also worked as policy director for Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness, a group that sued the federal government to block a mining project in northeastern Minnesota. In May 2018, the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management reinstated federal leases for a Twin Metals copper-nickel underground mine close to Ely and resting on Birch Lake, a body of water that flows into the Boundary Waters. That has made the project the ire of local and national environmental groups who are suing the federal government to prevent it from moving forward, according to The Star Tribune. In total, three complaints were filed against the Interior Department, one from a cohort of national environmental groups, another from a group of nine local Minnesota businesses, and the last from Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness.…

Read the full story