Minnesota environmentalists step up fight against Twin Metals copper project
A coalition of entrepreneurs, environmentalists, and outdoor enthusiasts in Minnesota, USA, has filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s decision that opened the door for Twin Metals, a subsidiary of Chilean miner Antofagasta, to develop underground copper a nickel mine and the construction of a concentrator along the shores of Lake Birch and the South Kavishivi River in the Rain River basin.
It was the location of the project that caused concern among local residents. Last week, more than two dozen former U.S. Forestry Service employees sent a letter to the government outlining the risks that a proposed mine in the area may pose.
« Overwhelming scientific research and all our experience tells us that in this extremely valuable, rich in water and closely interconnected ecosystems, you simply cannot combine copper mining and preserve healthy forests, water and normal life for local tribes ", - said in a letter addressed to US Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Purdue, who oversees the Forest Service.
The lawsuit challenges the government's decision to reverse an existing Obama-era decision that has blocked all new mining projects on the watershed for 20 years and calls for more environmental impact studies of the proposed mine.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Antofagasta is owned by Andreniko Luksic, a Chilean billionaire who also owns the house where Ivanka Trump lives with her husband Jared Kushner.
The Bureau of Land Administration renewed its 10-year lease on Twin Metals in Minnesota in December.