Page Title
 |  |  |  |  |
| News |
PolyMet Update, July 2011
PolyMet Mining Corporation is junior Canadian entity incorporated in Minnesota to extract copper, nickel
and associated minerals from the Duluth Complex of sulfide ores near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area.
The latest news from PolyMet is their use of a $4 million loan from the Iron Range Resources and
Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB) to purchase land to trade with the U.S. Forest Service. PolyMet needs to
purchase 6700 acres of forest service land for its proposed open pit copper-nickel-precious metal mine.
What the announcement didn’t mention is that the land exchange must be addressed under environmental
review. PolyMet is in the process of preparing a Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement
(SDEIS) after the original DEIS received a rating from the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) of
Environmentally Unsatisfactory-Inadequate, in February of 2010.
To further complicate matters, in order to facilitate permitting, PolyMet has agreed to simplify its metal
processing. The original plan was to produce copper wiring on site. PolyMet now proposes to ship out all
metals in semi-processed form, thus eliminating the need for a second autoclave. While temporarily
reducing some of the highly reactive waste (acid producing), it would also reduce PolyMet’s profits.
The mining of low grade ores in the state of Minnesota cannot be done without the lowering of
environmental standards by governmental agencies. Due to the fact that our agencies have not forced the
taconite mining companies to comply with current standards, the St. Louis River watershed is
contaminated with mercury, sulfates, and heavy metals. Now the agencies are preparing to allow more
contamination. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is preparing to change water pollution standards
to allow more sulfates into the watershed. Sulfates are part of a bio-chemical process whereby mercury is
converted into methylmercury, the form that accumulates in fish tissue. Sulfates in the watershed are also
implicated in the decline of wild rice within the watershed.
The copper-nickel mining companies are taking advantage of the fact that mining has been a part of the
Iron Range for the past 100 years. The permitting of PolyMet would be the foot-in-the-door that would give
the mining of sulfide ores a green light. Copper-nickel mineralization is contained in highly disseminated,
low-grade quality (less than 1%) ores embedded throughout the geological formation that underlies
Superior National Forest. The mining of sulfide ores would require perpetual treatment of waste water
leaching from the huge volumes of stored mining and processing waste.
Mining is a risky business. We know that taconite mining is polluting the St. Louis River watershed, but we
don’t know how to clean it up. Are we willing to accept more pollution, and are we willing to turn what
remains of the Arrowhead into another mining district?
Extracted from article by SLSA member, Elanne Palcich
PolyMet Mining Corporation is junior Canadian entity incorporated in Minnesota to extract copper, nickel
and associated minerals from the Duluth Complex of sulfide ores near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area.
The latest news from PolyMet is their use of a $4 million loan from the Iron Range Resources and
Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB) to purchase land to trade with the U.S. Forest Service. PolyMet needs to
purchase 6700 acres of forest service land for its proposed open pit copper-nickel-precious metal mine.
What the announcement didn’t mention is that the land exchange must be addressed under environmental
review. PolyMet is in the process of preparing a Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement
(SDEIS) after the original DEIS received a rating from the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) of
Environmentally Unsatisfactory-Inadequate, in February of 2010.
To further complicate matters, in order to facilitate permitting, PolyMet has agreed to simplify its metal
processing. The original plan was to produce copper wiring on site. PolyMet now proposes to ship out all
metals in semi-processed form, thus eliminating the need for a second autoclave. While temporarily
reducing some of the highly reactive waste (acid producing), it would also reduce PolyMet’s profits.
The mining of low grade ores in the state of Minnesota cannot be done without the lowering of
environmental standards by governmental agencies. Due to the fact that our agencies have not forced the
taconite mining companies to comply with current standards, the St. Louis River watershed is
contaminated with mercury, sulfates, and heavy metals. Now the agencies are preparing to allow more
contamination. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is preparing to change water pollution standards
to allow more sulfates into the watershed. Sulfates are part of a bio-chemical process whereby mercury is
converted into methylmercury, the form that accumulates in fish tissue. Sulfates in the watershed are also
implicated in the decline of wild rice within the watershed.
The copper-nickel mining companies are taking advantage of the fact that mining has been a part of the
Iron Range for the past 100 years. The permitting of PolyMet would be the foot-in-the-door that would give
the mining of sulfide ores a green light. Copper-nickel mineralization is contained in highly disseminated,
low-grade quality (less than 1%) ores embedded throughout the geological formation that underlies
Superior National Forest. The mining of sulfide ores would require perpetual treatment of waste water
leaching from the huge volumes of stored mining and processing waste.
Mining is a risky business. We know that taconite mining is polluting the St. Louis River watershed, but we
don’t know how to clean it up. Are we willing to accept more pollution, and are we willing to turn what
remains of the Arrowhead into another mining district?
Extracted from article by SLSA member, Elanne Palcich