PolyMet Mining is asking for a $4-million loan from the State of Minnesota to help buy land that they will swap with the U.S. Forest Service for land at its planned mining site near Babbitt, MN.
Both the Duluth News Tribune, HERE, and the Star Tribune, HERE, have the story.
The state’s Iron Range Resources board meets today and is expected to approve the deal. For its $4-million, the State would also get the right to buy 400,000 shares of PolyMet stock at $2.50 per share, if the proposed copper-nickel mine comes to fruition. If not, the State would own the properties bought with the funds.
PolyMet intends to buy a 5,272-acre tract of land near Biwabik and a 32-acre track near McFarland Lake in Cook County. The site of the company’s proposed mine is on land currently owned by the USFS as part of the Superior National Forest.
PolyMet’s mining proposal is currently in its 5th year of environmental review.