A high-profile, yearslong fight over a proposal to mine near the nation’s largest blackwater swamp in Georgia has come to an end.
The Conservation Fund, a nonprofit that buys at-risk lands for preservation, announced Friday that it paid about $60 million to buy land adjacent to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge where Twin Pines Minerals was pushing to mine for titanium, killing the project.
In addition to almost 8,000 acres, the group also acquired the underlying mineral rights to the land, blocking mining along an area known as the Trail Ride — a long, sandy ridge formation adjacent to the refuge. Scientists and activists had warned mining there could damage the integrity of the swamp, as well as historical and cultural assets.
The Okefenokee Swamp, home to the largest national wildlife refuge east of the Mississippi River, contains several endangered and threatened species, including the red-cockaded woodpecker, wood stork and eastern indigo snake.
Stacy Funderburke, the fund’s vice president of the central Southeast region, said urgency to reach a deal ramped up after Georgia regulators issued a draft permit for the mine last year despite pushback from top Biden administration officials and celebrities like movie star Leonardo DiCaprio.
“[There’s been] a huge outcry, citizens across Georgia wanting to stop this,” Funderburke said. “It became pretty clear once the draft permit was issued last year that there weren’t many exit ramps left for them to take outside of some type of buyout.”
Twin Pines did not respond to a request for comment.
The Conservation Fund, Funderburke said, relied on its revolving fund to purchase the land, an effort that was backed by philanthropic groups including the James M. Cox Foundation and the Holdfast Collective, a nonprofit that outdoor apparel giant Patagonia established.
The fight that unfolded around Twin Pines’ project underscored the difficulties of trying to mine in ecologically sensitive areas.
The Birmingham, Alabama-based company has tried since 2019 to advance the project — facing pushback in court, in the state Legislature and on Capitol Hill — and was recently called on to set aside a $2 million surety bond for future restoration of the site.
Twin Pines insisted the mining would be outside of the swamp and could be done safely and that the mine would produce titanium, a critical mineral used in defense equipment, spacecraft, automobiles, high-tech electronics, and other applications like paint and coatings.
Focus now turns to the ongoing push for permanent protections for the swamp.
The federally protected wildlife refuge was nominated under the Biden administration to be added to a list of globally treasured natural and cultural sites recognized by the United Nations. There are currently 26 such sites in the U.S. that have been designated as UNESCO World Heritage sites, including sites like Yellowstone and the Redwoods National and State Parks.
The Interior Department did not immediately respond when asked whether the Trump administration backs such a designation. Sonny Perdue, a former two-term Georgia governor who led the Department of Agriculture during Trump’s first term, called on the agency in April to support such a move.
Funderburke said he’s pursuing more protections for the swamp, while acknowledging other areas near the edge of Okefenokee remain open to mining exploration.
“There are still additional properties where there are future mining threats, so we will be paying close attention to that,” he said. “But I do think this was the most imminent.”
Correction: This story previously incorrectly referred to Twin Metals instead of Twin Pines Minerals.
