Sen. Smith introduces bill to ban copper mining near the Boundary Waters
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U.S. Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota has introduced legislation to permanently ban mining for copper, nickel and precious metals near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area.
The bill would make permanent an existing 20-year moratorium imposed by the Biden administration two years ago. It would prohibit new mining projects over about 350 square miles of the Superior National Forest within the Rainy River watershed, which flows into the Boundary Waters.
The bill would not impact any of the state’s six operating taconite mines.
But it would block the Twin Metals project, an underground mine proposed by the Chilean mining giant Antofagasta near Ely, Minn., and just a couple miles from the southern border of the wilderness area.
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It would also halt some other exploration in an area known as the Duluth Complex, one of the largest untapped deposits of copper and other metals in the world.
On the campaign trail last year, at a stop in St. Cloud, Minn., President Donald Trump promised to undo the mining moratorium in “about 10 minutes.”
The President hasn’t yet acted on the mining ban in northern Minnesota. But last month he signed an executive order to prioritize mining on federal lands.
Smith, a Democrat, told MPR News that Trump’s stated intent to undo the moratorium, which she worked on behind the scenes to encourage Biden to support, underscored to her the importance of introducing the bill.
"I understand that it will be hard to get this through Congress, given the current political makeup of Congress. But I think it's important to put a marker out there and give us all something to work towards,” she said.
Under Biden, the Department of the Interior imposed the moratorium after an environmental review concluded that copper-nickel mining in the region posed too great a risk of doing “irreparable harm” to the canoe wilderness area.
Copper-nickel mining has never been done in Minnesota, and carries with it a greater risk of water pollution than iron ore mining, which has been conducted in northern Minnesota for over a century.
“I’m not opposed to all mining in all places,” said Smith, who noted in a statement that mining is an important economic driver in Minnesota and “the pride of every Iron Ranger.”
“But this is not the place for this kind of mine. It is a particularly exceptional and unique piece of wilderness that would be damaged by copper-nickel mining,” said Smith, who has announced she does not plan to seek reelection to the Senate.
Smith is the third member of the Minnesota delegation in Congress to introduce a bill this year over the prospect of mining near the Boundary Waters.
DFL Rep. Betty McCollum introduced a similar bill in the House. Meanwhile GOP Rep. Pete Stauber reintroduced legislation in February to reverse the mining ban, and return two key federal mineral leases to Twin Metals that were revoked by the Biden administration in 2022.
Stauber responded to the proposed legislation saying he’s “disappointed yet not surprised” and calling the senator and Democrats “out of touch” with American workers.
“Not only would critical mineral mining in northern Minnesota create good-paying union jobs and revitalize our economy, but it would provide much-needed funding for every school district in Minnesota and reduce our nation’s dependence on foreign adversaries like China,” Stauber said. “It is offensive to oppose these worthy goals.”
Over the past decade the issue has become a contentious flashpoint. Environmental groups and businesses that depend on northeast Minnesota’s outdoor recreation-based economy have worked to block new mining in the area over fears of pollution that could degrade the region’s wilderness character.
But calls to open new mines have taken on greater urgency in recent years, not only to spark the region’s economy, but also to help supply minerals needed to build electric vehicles, solar panels and other technologies needed to power a carbon-free energy transition.
Julie Lucas, executive director of MiningMinnesota, said a blanket ban on mining in the region isn’t the right approach, and the communities around the Boundary Waters deserve to have a productive dialogue.
“Building and powering our nation requires minerals, and importantly it requires conversations about where those minerals come from and who will mine them. Minnesota’s projects deserve to be vetted thoroughly,” Lucas said, “and Minnesotans deserve those complex, nuanced conversations about natural resources and our use of them.”
Ingrid Lyons, executive director of the Save the Boundary Waters Coalition, said Smith’s legislation is the first bill introduced in the Senate to protect the Boundary Waters since 1978, when the wilderness area was established.
“By drawing this line in the sand, Sen. Smith is making it abundantly clear to her Senate colleagues and others that risking the Boundary Waters to copper mining is a hard ‘No,’” said Lyons.
Regardless of what happens at the federal level, any mining project in Minnesota must undergo an extensive environmental review process that typically takes years, and secure state approval.