Minnesota's Mines Face Troubling Delays February 2016 Minnesota’s regulations on new mining operations find criticism in both directions. The Mining Minnesota group, dedicated to protecting the mining interests in the state, says the delays Minnesota places on approving permits for mining operations is a source of economic loss due to troubling bureaucratic interference. On the other hand, environmental advocacy groups like WaterLegacy insist the state is permitting projects that violate EPA standards and the EPA has responded with investigating the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. In the U.S. it takes an average of seven to ten years to obtain permitting approvals for a new mining operation, over double the amount of time for mine permitting in other countries with comparable environmental standards and regulations. This loss of production time and money invested in permitting bureaucracy alone can eat into a potential mine’s profits with a potential end result of stalling a project before it ever gets off the ground. However, if advocacy groups like WaterLegacy are accurate in their assertions, then the lengthy permitting process implemented by Minnesota might be an attempt at maintaining environmental sustainability, albeit not a very efficient one if the group’s claims of EPA violations are correct. Whatever side one takes on this argument there is one clear problem: natural resources and industrial productivity is not being wisely harvested in this country. According to a 2014 survey executives in the manufacturing industry
stated
concern with being able to obtain the minerals the need when they need them. With mineral reserve wealth estimated at $6.2 trillion it is confusing as to why this should be the case.