Biden administration delivers serious blow to Minnesota mine

The Biden administration dealt a serious blow Wednesday to the proposed Twin Metals copper-nickel mine in northeastern Minnesota, ordering a study that could lead to a 20-year ban on mining upstream from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

The government said it has filed an application for a "mineral withdrawal," which would begin with a comprehensive study of the likely environmental and other impacts of mining if it were permitted in the watershed that flows into the Boundary Waters.

The Obama administration tried to kill the project when it launched a similar process in its final weeks, citing the potential threat to the Boundary Waters from acid mine drainage from the underground mine near Ely.

But the Trump administration cancelled the previous mineral withdrawal study 20 months into the 24-month process, and reinstated the project's federal mineral rights leases, which the Obama administration had decided not to renew.

When Twin Metals, which is owned by the Chilean mining giant Antofagasta, submitted its formal mine plan to federal and state regulators in 2019, the company said its design would prevent any acid drainage and protect the wilderness from pollution.

Environmental groups disputed that claim and challenged the lease renewals in federal court, in a case that's still pending.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)