Mining Halted Near Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness
A copper-sulfide mine on the edge of one of America’s most popular wilderness areas may finally be six feet under.
Sport Hawk | 2.15.2023
The Biden administration has acted to halt mining efforts on Superior National Forest land near Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area. The order places a 20-year moratorium on plans to extract copper from public lands adjacent to one of America’s most visited wildernesses.
Local mineral resources have long been the target of Chilean mining conglomerate Antofogasta plc, which would operate the mine under the banner of U.S. subsidiary Twin Metals Minnesota. Citing the essential nature of minerals critical to the nation’s commerce and security, Twin Metals claims the project would either directly or indirectly create more than 2,000 jobs. A peer-reviewed 2020 study by former chair of the economics department at Harvard University, James H. Stock, determined that protecting the area’s natural resources would lead to even greater employment and more revenue for the region.
Conservationists further point to the abysmal environmental record of hard rock mining, including sulfuric acid leaching from waste ore piles. The proposed mine is located near Birch Lake southeast of Ely, Minnesota, a gateway to the Boundary Waters Wilderness Area.
Over the years, successive administrations have played ping pong with this issue. In 2016, President Obama opted not to renew the lease. The Trump administration ordered the leases reinstated in 2018. President Biden, on his first day in office, placed a host of Trump orders under review, including the Twin Metals mineral lease. In late January 2023, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland signed the 20-year mining moratorium on 225,000 acres of national forest land upstream of the BWCA Wilderness. Twin Metals immediately announced plans to fight the order.
For further reading:
NEW YORK TIMES
“Biden Administration Sets a Mining Ban in Boundary Waters Wilderness”
CBS MINNESOTA
“Biden Admin Moves to Protect Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness from Planned Mine”
E&E NEWS
“Twin Metals Vows to Fight for Mine near Boundary Waters”
Image credit (2) | Wikimedia Commons