Iron Range. The proposed mine, usuallu called NorthMet project would be in the Mesabi Range – one of six mineral-rich regions in northern Minnesota and Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
A victory for environmentalists, Chippewa band
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers changed its mind, revoking its licensing for the NorthMet open-pit nickel-copper mine and processing plant south of Babbitt on Minnesota’s Iron Range. In 2019, during the Trump presidency, the Corps had supported the new mine. The Corps’ position is critical under the U.S. Clean Water Act because the mine would straddle the divide between the Lake Superior and Mississippi River basins. At hearing in May, there were strong objections to the permit from the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The mine’s promoter, PolyMet, had proposed blasting and digging 500 million tons of rock from 700—foot deep open pits over 20 years. Because the ore would be low grade, it would be ground on-site to extract the nickel and copper. Almost all the waste would be left in a 520-ac0re site that critics called “a toxic hydrometallurgical waste basin.”
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Corporate headquarters. In Baar in Swiss Alps. Glencore executives fly in and out of Zurich and Lucerne.
PolyMet profile
PolyMet is part of the Swiss-owned Glencore global mining company with a vast portfolio of copper mines in Africa, Australia and South America. The comoany sells 1.5 to 4.5 million tons a year, mostly copper but also nickel. The company has a history of labor issues and pollution problems.