DEVELOPERS OF STALLED MINNESOTA COPPER-NICKEL MINE PLAN STUDIES THAT MAY LEAD TO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES

The developers of a long-delayed copper-nickel mining project in northeastern Minnesota announced this week that they plan to conduct a series of studies over the next year on potential ways to improve environmental safeguards and make the mine more cost- and energy-efficient, which could lead to significant changes to the design.

The plan is for a $1 billion open-pit mine near Babbitt and processing plant near Hoyt Lakes that would be Minnesota’s first copper-nickel mine and produce minerals necessary for the clean energy economy. It is a 50-50 joint venture between Swiss commodities giant Glencore and Canada-based Teck Resources. The project was renamed NewRange Copper Nickel last year but it is still widely known by its old name, PolyMet. The project has been stalled for several years by court and regulatory setbacks, but company officials say they are still moving ahead with preparations at the site.

“The bottom line is this is all about improving efficiency, looking for ways to improve our carbon footprint, reduce greenhouse gases,” NewRange spokesman Bruce Richardson said in an interview. “If there’s a net environmental benefit, which is one of the end goals here, then it’s pretty hard to criticize.”

But environmental groups that have been fighting the project said the announcement is tantamount to an admission that the current mine plan is fundamentally flawed. They say mining the large untapped reserves of copper, nickel and platinum-group metals under northeastern Minnesota would pose unacceptable environmental risks because of the potential for acid mine drainage from the sulfide-bearing ore.