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Statewide Blog
Michael Olson

St. Louis County makes dubious mining jobs claims

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Update 3/19: Commissioner Nelson says the year should have said 2030, not 2013.

A campaign by the St. Louis County commission to promote copper-nickle mining along the Iron Range is floating some fishy job numbers.

A pamphlet and a page on the commission's website touts: "New, nonferrous projects in Minnesota have the potential to add more than $2.7 billion to the state's economy and another 7,000 new jobs by 2013."

That phrase was parroted by Northland News Center's Kevin Jacobsen after a cheeky report on the "Hug a Ranger" campaign.

Blogger Aaron Brown has a more realistic reaction to the claim, "This is patently insane."

PolyMet, the copper-nickel project furthest along, puts job estimates at 300 construction jobs and 360 "permanent" jobs. None of those estimates are tied to 2013.