The Interior Department advanced a contentious copper-nickel mining project Thursday near Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
Deputy Secretary Kate MacGregor announced in a document posted online the reinstatement of a 2017 legal opinion from President Donald Trump’s first term that allows developers of the Twin Metals mine to renew hardrock mineral leases in northeastern Minnesota’s Superior National Forest.
Twin Metals Minnesota, a subsidiary of Chilean mining company Antofagasta, has for years sought to renew the leases in its quest to mine copper, nickel and other commodities near the Boundary Waters.
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The project is opposed by local lawmakers and has been the epicenter of a fierce regulatory, legal and political battle.
