Stay up-to-date on proposed mining projects near the BWCAW and Superior National Forest, including the latest updates on Twin Metals and PolyMet, permitting status, court challenges, possible threats to the north woods environment, communities, air and water quality. See the map for locations and proximity to wilderness areas and watersheds.
TOP MINING STORIES:
PolyMet Won’t Produce Copper Metal
PolyMet Mining’s plan to mine and mill copper, nickel, and precious metals near Babbitt won’t result in production of finished copper metal on-site, the company announced in a change of plans yesterday.
PolyMet Hires Former MPCA Commissioner
PolyMet Mining, the Canadian firm that hopes to build a $600-million copper-nickel mine near Babbitt, has hired former Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Commissioner Brad Moore as an Executive Vice President.
Broad Implications for PolyMet Loan Suit?
A lawsuit brought by a coalition of environmental groups questioning the legality of a Iron Range Resources loan to PolyMet Mining could have wide-ranging implications for projects supported by Minnesota state government money, some worry.
Environmentalists Sue Over PolyMet Loan
Five environmental groups are suing the State of Minnesota over a $4-million loan that Iron Range Resources approved for PolyMet Mining as part of its plan to mine copper, nickel, and precious metals near Babbitt.
Copper Mining Firms to Merge
Duluth Metals, Ltd. has agreed to buy Franconia Minerals Corp. in a merger of companies hoping to mine copper and nickel in Northeastern Minnesota.
Critics Concerned by Loan to PolyMet
Environmental advocates are concerned with a $4-million loan granted by the state of Minnesota’s Iron Range Resources board to PolyMet mining which hopes to open a controversial copper-nickel mine near Babbitt.
PolyMet Seeks $4-Million Loan from State
PolyMet Mining is asking for a $4-million loan from the State of Minnesota to help it buy land that it will swap with the U.S. Forest Service for land at its planned mining site near Babbitt.
Atikokan Looks Ahead to Gold Mine
Atikokan, the northern gateway community to Quetico Provincial Park, is considering what steps to take to become gold mining town. Osisko Mining expects to have a gold mine in the Atikokan area, perhaps by 2015.
Minnesota DNR Awarded Mercury Grant
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has been awarded a $1.6 million federal Environmental Protection Agency grant to study atmospheric mercury emissions from the state’s taconite processing plants.
Group Finds Mine Pollution near BWCAW
The advocacy group Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness claims that sulfide mine pollution is occurring at a 36-year-old mine site off of Spruce Road near the South Kawishiwi River just miles from the limits of the BWCAW.
PolyMet Impact Statement to be Rewritten
State and federal agencies will rewrite the the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for PolyMet Mining’s proposed copper-nickel and precious metals mine near Babbitt. The rewrite comes after the federal Environmental Protection Agency deemed the initial Draft EIS “Environmentally Unsatisfactory-Inadequate.”
$1 Trillion in Metals Buried Near BWCAW
With an estimated $1 trillion worth of copper and other precious metals buried beneath the surface along the South Kawishiwi River near the southern border of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, the tangle over mineral development and natural resource protection appears likely to continue well beyond those surrounding the PolyMet copper-nickel mine in nearby Babbitt.
PolyMet Impact Statement May Be Redone
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers may redo their Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the PolyMet copper-nickel mining operation proposed near Babbitt. The original Draft EIS was declared “environmentally unsatisfactory-inadequate” by the federal Environmental Protection Agency earlier this year.
PolyMet Investors Turn Cautious
Investors in PolyMet Mining Corporation are showing caution over possible delays in the development of the NorthMet copper-nickel and precious metals mining operation near Babbitt after criticisms of the project’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement by the EPA.
House Considers Financial Assurance
The Minnesota House of Representatives is considering a bill to tighten the financial assurances required by mining companies operating in the state, even though a companion bill in the state senate has been withdrawn.
Financial Assurance Bill Withdrawn
A bill in the Minnesota State Senate which could have raised the financial assurance requirements for non-ferrous mining companies in the state was withdrawn by its sponsor after lengthy hearings in St. Paul.
PolyMet Issues Come to State Capitol
Issues surrounding PolyMet Mining Company’s proposed copper-nickel and precious metals mining operation near Babbitt, reached the Minnesota state capitol yesterday at a hearing of the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee.
Senate Committee to Consider PolyMet
Next week, the Minnesota Senate’s Environment and Natural Resources Committee will hear testimony on issues surrounding PolyMet Mining Company’s proposed NorthMet copper-nickel and precious metals mine.
Legislature Mulls PolyMet Assurances
Minnesota state legislators will soon consider bills which could raise the level of financial assurances required by PolyMet Mining Company in order to operate its proposed NorthMet copper-nickel mining operation near Babbitt.
EPA Criticizes PolyMet Plans
The Environmental Protection Agency, noting more than two dozen inadequacies in the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources draft Environmental Impact Statement for the proposedPolyMet copper-nickle mine, says the project should not go forward as planned.