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Author: Admin | 2025-04-28
Largest tributary to Lake Superior, and upstream from Duluth and the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa reservation.How soon will the mines be operational?The Twin Metals project has no obvious path forward after the Biden Administration cancelled two federal minerals leases the company held that were crucial for the mine. The Department of the Interior concluded in January 2022 that the two leases "were improperly renewed in violation of applicable statutes and regulations." The leases had been renewed by the Trump Administration after the Obama Administration declined to do so.Twin Metals said it "intends to take formal legal action to defend its valid mineral rights" and that it has six years to make a claim.The Biden Administration is also seeking a 20-year moratorium on mining on more than 220,000 acres in Superior National Forest near the Boundary Waters, which it called a "unique natural wonder." The action involves restarting a previously cancelled study on the mining impacts that could take two years. Depending on the results, Twin Metals said it may appeal.As for PolyMet, it's also stalled. The mine was fully permitted at the start of 2019 but those permits are caught up in legal challenges by environmental groups and the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.One of them, a wetland permit issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, was suspended following a legal challenge by the Fond du Lac Band. That permit allows the company to fill or dredge more than 900 acres of wetlands that were once part of Superior National Forest, where PolyMet plans to dig the mine pit and stockpile waste rock. The Corps held a hearing May 5-7 on whether the Band will be affected by downstream pollution from the mine. The Corps must decide whether to reinstate, revoke or
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