Oberstar-sponsored Bill sells Superior National Forest land to Polymet
June 06, 08 by TheFleetIf you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
John Myers | Source: Duluth News Tribune
Legislation in the U.S. House would sell 6,700 acres in the Superior National Forest to the Polymet copper company without an environmental assessment or public input.
The federal land is precisely where the company hopes to mine for copper, nickel, platinum and palladium as early as next year.
… Jim Sanders, supervisor of the Superior National Forest, said the Forest Service purchased the land from U.S. Steel in the 1930s but has never owned the mineral rights below the surface. Polymet controls those mineral rights.
Polymet officials say they had been moving ahead with mining plans, assuming their mineral rights “superseded” surface ownership, Latisha Gietzen, Polymet vice president of public, environmental and government affairs, said.
… Because the 6,700 acres is surrounded by mining-related activities — a railroad to the south and an active taconite mine to the north — Sanders said it makes sense to sell the land and use the proceeds to buy other, more environmentally sensitive land closer to the heart of the forest.
… Polymet would be Minnesota’s first copper-nickel mine. But Polymet is only one of several companies eyeing rich deposits of copper, nickel, platinum and palladium under northern Minnesota forests and lakes. The interest is being sparked by record-breaking prices for those minerals and new technology that make it easier to separate copper from other rock.
Polymet is the farthest along toward developing those minerals and has purchased land, processing equipment and buildings from the former LTV Mining site near Hoyt Lakes. The company’s proposed open pit mine on federal property is several miles away toward Babbitt and would be connected by railroad to the processing plant.
GLSW Ed. Note: The rail line at the south of the LTV site is an active line to Two Harbors, where docks load and take delivery of dry bulk goods by freighter.
