MEMO: Senate expected to vote on Boundary Waters fate next week: parsing myth from reality

FACT: Sulfide-ore copper mining would destroy far more jobs than it would create. A peer-reviewed study by Harvard University[2] showed that mining would definitely negatively impact the regional economy. The study estimated that, compared to a mining-based economy over 20 years, the existing, outdoor-based economy results in:

• 1,500-4,600 more jobs;
• $100-900 million more total income.

FACT: The outdoor recreation economy generates $13.5 billion[3] annually for the state of Minnesota, while extractive industries (including timber, sand & gravel, and mining) generate only $1.2 billion for the state.

• A broad array of businesses oppose the Twin Metals project, from small Wilderness-edge outfitting shops to titans of the outdoor recreation industry.
• See: The Conservation Alliance CRA sign-on letter. [4]

FACT: Opposition to this mine is broad and varied. In addition to business owners, big and small, hunters, anglers, paddlers, youth, faith groups, camps, conservationists, and Americans from across the country consistently show overwhelming support for protecting the Boundary Waters watershed. Over 675,000 Americans commented during public engagement sessions, and over 98% of those comments were in favor of the Mineral Withdrawal protecting the Boundary Waters watershed from copper mining development.

• See: Hunt/Fish Community sign-on letter. [5]

FACT: Sulfide-ore copper mining in Minnesota will not benefit the American people or American interests. If House Joint Resolution 140 passes, the Administration would soon issue leases to a subsidiary (Twin Metals Minnesota) of the Chilean mining company, Antofagasta. This foreign company already has contracts in place with no-cost, state-owned copper smelters in China.

 

Antofagasta secured record-breaking, zero-cost (meaning free) processing agreements with Chinese copper smelters, all of which are state-owned in whole or part. Antofagasta will ship any ore concentrates mined in Minnesota directly to China for processing, where the copper will be used to support Chinese mineral and energy dominance, further sidelining American jobs and economic priorities.[6]

FACT: There has not been a single instance of a sulfide-ore copper mine operating without polluting nearby waters.

• Environmental Protection Agency data identifies sulfide-ore copper mining as America’s most toxic industry, and a 2016 U.S. Forest Service study concluded this kind of mining poses irreversible risks to the headwaters of the Boundary Waters.
• Sulfide-ore copper mining next to the Boundary Waters could release heavy metals and toxic air pollutants linked by the World Health Organization[7] to increased cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory disease, and neurodevelopmental harm, threatening water quality, wildlife, and nearby communities.

FACT: The mining company, Antofagasta, has a track record of pollution. Just weeks ago, Chile’s environmental regulator fined the company $775,000 for failing to comply with water quality monitoring regulations at its Centinela mine in northern Chile.[8]