Copper Nickel: To Mine Or Not To Mine … That Is The Question

The debate over whether Minnesota will allow copper nickel mining has intensified this week. On Wednesday, the state’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released the long-awaited environmental review of the proposed PolyMet copper mine project. Let’s recap how the project got started, the scope of the project, and the governmental process.

In 2005, Polymet Corporation purchased assets of the bankrupt iron-ore LTV mining Corporation, which was located near Hoyt Lakes in northeastern Minnesota. The land and facility is part of the Duluth complex, which contains the world’s largest undeveloped deposits of non-ferrous metals. The deposits, which were discovered in the 1940’s, are now economically viable. In the 1990’s, a hydrometallurgical process for recovering copper, nickel, cobalt, platinum, palladium, and gold from rock became commercially viable. These metals are typically used in construction, plumbing, electrical wiring, batteries, cell phones, aircraft engines, medical treatments, electronics and more.

In 2005, Polymet began the process to receive the required permits to mine copper nickel. The Minnesota Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) requires that an environmental impact statement (EIS) be conducted for all new mining operations. The DNR is usually the responsible government unit for producing the statement; however, the federal government can also be involved depending on the specific conditions of the proposed project (land ownership, wetland, etc.). The proposed Polymet project raises several different environmental concerns then projects associated with taconite or ferrous mining. This has increased the complexity of the environmental review process.

On October 19th, after more than four years of analysis and input by a number of the state and federal agencies, the nearly 1,000 page draft EIS was made available to the public on the DNR website. A major environmental concern raised is the effect the disposal of sulfide based tailings will have on water quality. The completion of the EIS marks the start of the public comment period, an opportunity for the public comment on the proposed project and the processes used by the governmental agencies in drafting the EIS, a period that will last 45 days or longer.
So what does the EIS do? It helps permitting organizations and the public understand the environmental and socioeconomic impact of the proposed project. It uses the best data available to determine potential environmental impacts and explores ways to mitigate or avoid potential adverse impacts. What doesn’t the EIS do? It does not approve or disapprove the proposed project, nor does it guarantee that permits can be issued. Once the EIS process is complete, after public comments and revisions by the DNR and Corps of Engineers, Polymet will then apply for mining and air and water pollution permits through the MN Pollution Control Agency, MN DNR Division of Waters, and MN DNR Division of Land and Minerals.