A recent news poll shows that 67% of Minnesotans do not support new mining projects proposed near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
Star Tribune and KARE 11, in partnership with Mason-Dixon Polling and Strategy Inc., recently polled hundreds of Minnesotans across the state about proposed mining projects near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW).
One of those projects, a proposed Twin Metals mine, has sparked controversy for years. Twin Metals seeks to extract copper and nickel, among other minerals, by building an underground mine.
According to the Minnesota Star Tribune, participants were asked: “Generally speaking, do you support or oppose building new mines near the Boundary Waters in northern Minnesota?”
The results showed that 67% of people said they were against a new mine. This includes people living in northern Minnesota.
Proposal has sparked controversy
Twin Metals has spent the past two decades seeking to renew two federal mineral leases to build a copper-nickel mining complex. The company also plans to extract cobalt, platinum, palladium, gold, and silver. The proposed mine would sit near where the South Kawishiwi River flows into Birch Lake, about 9 miles southeast of Ely. The complex would cover 1,156 acres and operate for an estimated 25 to 30 years.
Opponents, including conservationists and lawmakers, have long argued that sulfide ore leaches harmful heavy metals into the air and water as it breaks down during copper and nickel extraction. They warn that these toxins could pollute the watershed for years.
Some of the waters in and around the proposed mine site drain into the BWCAW, which lies just miles away. Because many of the region’s lakes, rivers, and streams connect, mine pollution could flow downstream to Voyageurs National Park and beyond.
However, pro-mining supporters cite the benefits to jobs and the economy. According to the Twin Metals project, the mine would create about 750 jobs, with another 1,500 indirect jobs. They also predict that it could bring in roughly $12 billion in revenue in the first 10 years. Twin Metals, which is owned by Antofagasta, a Chilean company, says it can extract copper and nickel safely. This is despite Antofagasta’s track record of “violating environmental protection guidelines.” Additionally, Minnesota has never mined copper-nickel.
With 20-year protections overturned, opposition continues
This spring, the U.S. Senate passed H.J. Resolution 140, which President Trump then signed into law. This overturned a 20-year ban that protected 225,504 acres of the Superior National Forest, much of which borders the BWCAW, from mineral and geothermal leasing. Later in the summer, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed an executive order blocking nonferrous mineral mining where Twin Metals seeks to mine near the Rainy River Headwaters Watershed, which includes the BWCAW.
The poll included hundreds of participants from Hennepin and Ramsey counties, other parts of the Twin Cities metro area, southern Minnesota, and northern Minnesota. According to the report, “This Star Tribune/KARE 11 Minnesota Poll’s findings are based on interviews with 800 Minnesota likely voters conducted from Oct. 5 to 7, 2026. The poll’s margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.”
Notably, 56% of survey participants who live up north oppose new mining projects, such as the one Twin Metals proposes, near the BWCAW. Still, 35% supported it, up from 22% in a 2020 poll. Cloquet resident Karen Drouillad is against a mine being built near the BWCAW. She told the news, “We don’t have many pristine areas left, and I don’t understand why we are trying to wreck that.”
The poll sampled people from across the state and included respondents of different ages, races, genders, political affiliations, and educational backgrounds. The full poll results and methodology are available online.
More info:
- Minnesota Poll: Broad opposition to new mines near the Boundary Waters – The Minnesota Star Tribune
- About the October 2026 Minnesota Poll – The Minnesota Star Tribune
- Executive Order 26-10
- Chile fines multinational mining company, Antofagasta, for environmental compliance violations – Environment Minnesota