The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has approved a plan by Franconia Minerals, a subsidiary of Twin Metals Minnesota, to conduct exploratory drilling for metallic minerals near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. If the project moves forward, the company will gain the right to explore state and private land adjoining Birch Lake, south of Ely. Environmentalists and other groups oppose the plan. They argue it is an early step toward mining that would cause pollution and damage wilderness areas.
Update as of December 31, 2025:
Earlier this week, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) approved Franconia Minerals’ plan to explore metallic minerals near Birch Lake. The plan allows the company, a Twin Metals Minnesota subsidiary, to develop 19 drill sites on state and private land. This includes part of the shoreline and beneath the lake about 9 miles south of Ely. Birch Lake is part of the Rainy River watershed and drains northward into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW).
DNR spokesperson Erik Evans told the Minnesota Star Tribune that, “With the special conditions in place, the DNR has determined there is little potential for risk to the environment from the approved exploration activities.”
Franciona has done exploratory drilling in the area before. With DNR approval, the company conducted exploratory drilling for precious metals near Birch Lake in 2023 and 2024.
The drill pad sites would be located near the proposed Twin Metals copper-nickel mine site. It’s been a project that has been the subject of nearly a decade of public debate.
Environmental groups oppose the plan, arguing it will add pollutants to the lake, which the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has designated as impaired. Chris Knopf, executive director for Friends of the Boundary Waters, told the Minnesota Star Tribune that “despite clear legal authority to deny the permit and overwhelming opposition from Minnesotans, the Walz administration is holding the door open to this toxic industry.”
The proposal also enables Franconia to conduct down-hole geophysical surveys in the newly drilled borings. The DNR has approved the company’s plan to complete the work over the next two years.
Identify mineral deposits
Originally published November 17, 2025:
A subsidiary of Twin Metals Minnesota, Franconia Minerals has submitted a proposal to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to conduct exploratory drilling for metallic minerals near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW). The plan, if approved, includes exploratory drilling of up to nineteen sites.
These sites would include state and private land located 9 miles south of Ely and adjacent to Birch Lake. By doing so, they would collect data on mineral content and ore grades. This information could help develop a future mining complex in an area popular with recreationalists and homeowners.
“The goal is to further develop our understanding of our mineral deposits in the area that we haven’t studied as extensively as some others,” said Twin Metals spokesperson Kathy Graul in an interview with MPR News.
Graul explained that the drilling bores would go deep beneath Birch Lake. She emphasized that Twin Metals is still ‘far from earning permits’ to build a mine.
The company plans to use existing roads to access these areas. Furthermore, they may also build temporary access roads or trails to reach some drill sites. This could include wetlands, which the company says it would conduct only when the ground is frozen. To access private land, they would request permission from the landowners.
Not the first drilling proposal
For the past decade, the debate over whether to build a copper-nickel mine just outside the BWCAW has been hotly contested at the state, local, and federal levels. Twin Metals continues to seek reinstatement of two mineral leases to mine copper, nickel, cobalt, and platinum group metals within the Superior National Forest. The proposed underground mine site would sit along the northeastern edge of Birch Lake near the confluence of the South Kawishiwi River.
This proposal is not Franconia’s first. In 2023, the company submitted an exploratory drilling plan to the DNR. The DNR approved that plan despite opposition from clean-water groups and tribal governments.
Now the company has returned with another proposal. Once the DNR receives it, they have up to 20 days to review it. They will decide whether to include any changes or conditions.
Copper-nickel mining has never been done here
Conservationists oppose the plan, arguing that this type of mining is dangerous. They say that waste rock could release toxins and heavy metals. As a result, these pollutants could contaminate watersheds flowing north into the wilderness and beyond.
“This exploratory drilling proposal is a precursor to copper mining underneath Birch Lake, which flows directly into the Wilderness,” said Ingrid Lyons, Executive Director of Save the Boundary Waters. “This continuation of exploratory drilling serves as an important reminder: the threat posed by copper mining in this special place is far from gone, and the entire watershed of the Boundary Waters—particularly state land—needs permanent protection from copper mining, not just federal lands.”
Area recreationalists and homeowners also frequent Birch Lake. The White Iron Chain of Lakes Association (WICOLA) has long pledged to monitor plans for all mining activities. Their mission statement includes: “We will closely review the plans of Twin Metals and other proposed projects that potentially degrade our water environment and will act to promote clean water.”
A bigger concern is that this could weaken the 20-year ban on sulfide-ore copper mining, which currently protects roughly 225,000 acres of the Superior National Forest. Currently, the Trump administration is working to reverse that order, which could allow copper-nickel mining activity to move forward.
If the DNR approves the latest proposal, exploratory drilling could begin. The authorization would last until March 31, 2027.
More info:
- Exploration plan submitted by Franconia Minerals (US) LLC on November 6, 2025
- Twin Metals seeks to continue copper exploration near Boundary Waters – MPR News
- Mineral exploration compliance – Minnesota DNR