2019 comment period on mineral leases

On Dec. 20, 2018 the federal Bureau of Land Management announced its strategy to officially renew two mineral rents for 10 years to Twin Metals Minnesota, a subsidiary of the Chilean mining giant Antofagasta, which will be vying to construct a huge underground copper-nickel mine near Ely, Minn., just outside the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

At precisely the exact sam e tim e, the BL M also pu blished a 34-page environm ental evaluation and gave the people u ntil Jan. 22 to weigh in abou t the agency's plans to renew the leases.

But the following day, on Dec. 21 at midnight, the partial government shutdown started. As a result, agency staff haven't been accessible to answer questions, environmental groups say, and advice couldn't be accessed by them on the proposition on government websites for many days. suitable time to assess whether Twin Metals can function safely is from the environmental review and permitting phase, which would be triggered when the business submits a mine plan.

But mining opponents, including the Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters, the Wilderness Society, Center for Biological Diversity, and National Parks Conservation Association, assert that is too late. They say scientists should first find out whether the Boundary Waters' watershed is an proper spot for mining.

In a press release encouraging mining supporters to publish comments, Twin Metals stated the mineral rents are the"base" of its underground coppernickel mining job and "their renewal is essential to the continuing design and submittal of a formal mine project proposal to both state and national agencies," which the company has said it plans to submit sometime in 2019. Mining backers have argued that the Those groups have asked the bureau to extend the comment period by an initial two weeks - until March 25 2019.

"A rushed process is insufficient to understand the consequences of lease renewal on one of our country's most treasured public lands," the groups wrote in their letter to the BLM, urging the agency to "proceed carefully and take sufficient time to fully engage the public, the Forest Service, the scientific community, Native American tribes as well as others that will be affected by the choice.”

Minnesota's U.S. senators, Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, have also requested at least a 60-day comment period. So have U.S. Reps. Betty McCollum, Ilhan Omar and Dean Phillips of Minnesota, who asked the BLM to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement to more thoroughly examine the consequences of a potential mine to the Boundary Waters' sensitive ecosystem. The Bureau of Land Management hasn't reacted to the requests.

The Trump government's proposal to renew the leases was the last of several reversals of transfers that the Obama administration had taken to block potential copper-nickel mines, such as Twin Metals, on national land within the watershed of the Boundary Waters.

In late 2016, in the waning days of the Obama government, the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management withdrew Twin Metals of its leases and started a procedure to prohibit mining in the landmark for 20 years, citing the possible risks of sulfide ore copper-nickel mining into an "irreplaceable" wilderness region.

In addition to reinstating and moving to renew the leases, the Trump government also resisted the environmental study of the proposed 20-year mineral withdrawal.

Signs supporting mining and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, Derek Montgomery for MPR News.