Industry scolds U.S. for mining ban in Minnesota wilderness area  

The mining industry is criticizing a United States government decision to remove a large swath of northeastern Minnesota from development for 20 years even as the administration promotes critical minerals projects for national security.  

The U.S. Department of the Interior on Thursday extended a temporary ban from last year on copper, nickel and other hard rock mining across about 900 sq. km of the federal Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness along the Canadian border by the north shore of Lake Superior. Former president Donald Trump had tried to approve mining in the area.  

“It’s difficult to square the announcement of this significant land withdrawal with the Biden administration’s stated goals on electrification, the energy transition and supply chain security,” Rich Nolan, president and CEO of the U.S. National Mining Association said in a news release.  

“At a time when demand for minerals such as copper, nickel and cobalt are skyrocketing for use in electric vehicles and solar and wind infrastructure, the administration is withdrawing hundreds of thousands of acres of land that could provide U.S. manufacturers with plentiful sources of these same minerals. It’s nonsensical.”  

The administration’s move follows the allocation of billions of dollars in funding for the mining industry and the forming of an alliance among Western nations to take on China as the predominant source of critical minerals, which are needed for modern technology to fight climate change and in defence.  

However, the White House has promised to conserve 30% of the U.S. landmass by 2030, including a contested 1,800 sq. km of tribal lands in Nevada and this week’s protection of the Tongass National Forest in Alaska.  

“The Department of the Interior takes seriously our obligations to steward public lands and waters on behalf of all Americans,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement. “Protecting a place like Boundary Waters is key to supporting the health of the watershed and its surrounding wildlife, upholding our Tribal trust and treaty responsibilities, and boosting the local recreation economy.” 

The area in Minnesota includes Antofagasta’s (LSE: ANTO) Twin Metals underground project to mine copper, nickel, cobalt and platinum group metals. Washington cancelled the Chilean miner’s leases there last year. The company didn’t immediately respond to an e-mail on Friday seeking comment. 

The project proposed to process 18,000 tonnes of ore per day mined from 122 metres to 1,375 metres deep. It said processing would remove most of the sulphide minerals, producing tailings without acid rock drainage. Up to half the tailings would be used as backfill in the underground mine and the rest would be dry-stacked on the surface, Antofagasta said.  

US. government agencies say mining operations as far away as 160 km threaten acid pollution of the area’s waterways which attract the most visitors of any wilderness area in the U.S., some 150,000 people a year. 

“Even small amounts of this pollution is detrimental to public health,” Christine R. Goepfert, a campaign director for the U.S. National Parks Conservation Association, said in a statement. “Banning mining activities in the region’s prized Boundary Waters will protect the broader park ecosystem now and for years to come.”  

The American Exploration & Mining Association said it had joined with local Congressman Pete Stauber in September to urge the Biden administration to keep the Boundary lands open to projects. 

“Today’s decision ignores the comprehensive environmental laws and regulations under which modern mines are designed and operated,” association executive director Mark Compton said. “It is just another sad chapter illustrating the way this administration sabotages itself.”