Despite the fact that none of the nonferrous mining projects being proposed in Minnesota would be located in Cook County, community members are talking about mining. Two projects are in the works: an above-ground mine in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness watershed by PolyMet and a below-ground mine in the Lake Superior watershed by Twin Metals Minnesota. The companies have found significant deposits of copper, nickel, cobalt, platinum, palladium, and gold in the Duluth Complex and Mesabi Iron Range.
Cook County resident Frank Moe of Conservation Minnesota and Aaron Klemz, Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness communications director and spokesperson for the Mining Truth Coalition, contacted the Cook County News- Herald to talk about a petition that was created to urge Governor Dayton to take a stand against nonferrous mining if sufficient guarantees were not in place to protect against environmental damage and ongoing mitigation costs being left in the hands of taxpayers.
“We’re not against mining,” Moe said. “I’ve always been a supporter of taconite mining.” He said projects like the one proposed by PolyMet are different, however. “You add air and water to taconite and you get rust,” he said. “We’re talking about something that is completely different. This is not your father’s mine.”
Klemz and Moe expressed concern that wastewater treatment plants, which Klemz called “energy hogs,” would need to operate in perpetuity, that major storms could cause overflow of container systems designed to keep acid-producing wastes from the watershed, and that since nonferrous mining does not have a safe track record, they don’t have any reassurance that it will be done without damaging the environment now. Klemz and Moe cited other mines that despite efforts to the contrary did not have the capacity or the finances to deal with the pollution their projects caused.
The projects proposed for the Arrowhead region would move “hundreds of tons of rock to get thousands of pounds of metal out,” Klemz said.
Moe stated that the vast majority of jobs on the North Shore rely on maintaining a clean environment. “We’re looking at the Superior National Forest becoming a huge industrial district,” he said.
The need for metals
As of this summer, copper was selling at $3/pound, Klemz said. He said that the copper industry is very volatile, however, and that price is expected to drop.
Moe and Klemz suggested that it’s time for Americans to start reprocessing their used metals. Klemz said most electronics recycling plants are in China and India. “We should be thinking of mining as a supplement to recycling,” he said.
Moe said he would like to see state dollars spent on a post-consumer electronics reprocessing facility here in Minnesota. “We could be the national leader in this,” he said. “That would be the far more sensible direction for us to go.”
Local discussion
A group of local residents met at Cook County Higher Education this summer to hear Grand Portage Water Quality Specialist Margaret Watkins share her research on the proposed mining projects.
Watkins said the proposed PolyMet project would dig deeper than the taconite mines, but the land that has been identified is undisturbed at this point.
Watkins indicated that only about 38 percent of the $2.6 billion spent on mining reclamation in the U.S. between 1998 and 2007 was provided by financial assurances from mining companies. She said that the cost of mitigating acid drainage would be 10 times the cost of mitigating other types of mining waste. She said she believes the interest earned on the principal that is set aside for perpetual treatment needs to be enough to pay for treatment.
Watkins anticipated a need for ongoing active wastewater treatment systems rather than passive systems such as percolation through wetlands. While geo-membranes and clay caps and liners have been successful on a small scale, she said, “eventually all liners and all caps will leak.” In addition, she said that fracturing bedrock would be necessary to extract the metals, creating the possibility of acidic wastewater being introduced into the aquifer for 1,000 years.
Most of the proposed mining operations sit on land included in the 1854 Treaty. Watkins’ PowerPoint presentation stated, “…The public and tribes bear the potentially huge environmental risks.” She said the goal is not to prevent or stop mining but to ensure that treaty rights are honored and to get companies to follow the law.
Prevention is much less expensive than dealing with environmental degradation later, Watkins said. Some people believe that the mining companies are going by the maxim, “It’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission.” She advocated for avoiding problems up front but thought perpetual treatment might still be needed.
One audience member said he thought that the EPA has not been involved enough in environmental oversight in Minnesota and that politics were exerting influence on environmental decisions related to mining.
Another audience member pointed out that the taconite mines were up and running before all the current regulations were in place. He suggested that the process PolyMet is undergoing is the “silver lining” in nonferrous mining, giving the government the opportunity to make regulations right this time around, before any mining is done.
The industry speaks
Mining Minnesota is a coalition “committed to sustainable and environmentally responsible critical and strategic metals mining development.” According to its website, “The state of Minnesota estimates that the more than 4 billion tons of crude ore here are among the largest deposits of these base and precious metals in the world. These metals – which include platinum, palladium, nickel, gold, silver and copper deposits — were discovered and initially explored in the 1950s and 1960s.
“…In mining’s earlier years, environmental impacts were not well understood and not a matter of significant concern either. …The environmental consequences from some early mining operations have left an historical legacy of negative environmental impacts that still affect the public’s perception of mining. … This legacy of environmental damage is not indicative of new mines and mining practices.…
“…Like other global industries, mining has undergone dramatic changes in recent years, bringing it firmly into the world of 21st century high technology. …The last 15 years have brought about remarkable changes in the industry. Hydrometallurgical processes…make it possible to selectively extract the valuable components and treat and contain all air or water emissions as required for environmental compliance. …Both state and federal regulatory agencies keep a sharp eye on industry practices.”
This is the third in a multi-part series on mining in the Northland. The next article will feature a discussion with two geologists who work for Duluth Metals, the company developing the Twin Metals Minnesota project.
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