Twin Metals to appeal decision from Biden administration

Twin Metals Minnesota is taking action to advance their project.

The company said in a statement that they are appealing a decision from the Bureau of Land Management to reject their lease applications and prospecting permit applications.

"We remain steadfast in our commitment to the communities of northeast Minnesota," said Kelly Osborne, Twin Metals Chief Executive Officer. "We have a viable mining project that we will move forward under existing law."

"The rejection of the preference right lease applications and prospecting permit applications was both politically motivated and completely unnecessary," said Julie Padilla, Twin Metals Chief Regulatory Officer. "This tells us that the federal government has no intention to listen to science, and it also makes clear that opponents of copper-nickel mining are afraid that the established environmental review process already underway for our project would show that a modern copper-nickel mine can be safe for the environment and should be permitted."
Twin Metals has state, private and federal mineral rights that have been held in good standing for more than a half century.

The company formally submitted its mine proposal to state and federal agencies in late 2019. This proposal was the culmination of more than a decade of engineering, hydrogeological, environmental and engagement work including the evaluation of dozens of project-specific configurations and technologies that maximize environmental protection.

Since Twin Metals’ mine plan submittal, the company and its expert contractors have produced in excess of 25,000 pages of scientific baseline data and environmental analyses on the specifics of the Twin Metals project to support the state and federal agencies for the environmental review process. However, regulators have failed to advance that process.

In a statement, Twin Metals said it cares deeply about protecting the surrounding environment through development, operation and closure of its mine, because it is a company made up of individuals who live, work and raise families in Minnesota. The minerals Twin Metals is proposing to mine – copper, nickel, cobalt and platinum group metals – are needed for clean energy technologies that are essential to combat climate change and secure domestic supply chains. That is why Twin Metals is advancing a model mine using best available technologies to protect the environment and workers.