Minneapolis — Talon Metals Corp. filed papers with Minnesota regulators on Wednesday to begin the environmental review process for its proposed underground nickel mine near the northern city of Tamarack, which would supply nickel to Tesla for electric car batteries.
The Department of Energy has already awarded a $114 million grant to the project to build an ore processing plant in North Dakota to boost domestic production of nickel, lithium and other metals needed for the Biden administration’s electric vehicles and fight against climate change. Part of the fighting effort. ,
This funding contrasts with the administration’s efforts to eliminate another proposed mining project in northern Minnesota, the Twin Metals copper-nickel mine near Ely, which is just upstream from the pristine Boundary Water Canoe Area Wilderness. And the federal government raised a new hurdle earlier this month for the isolated Newrange copper nickel mine near Babbitt when the Army Corps of Engineers revoked a critical water quality permit.
The Talon mine may have the administration’s backing, but it is already facing opposition from the Mila Lac band of the Ojibwe and environmental groups. They are concerned about potential impacts on water resources and Native communities in the area, about 115 miles (185 kilometers) north of Minneapolis. Like the Neurange and Twin Metals ore deposits, the metals are bound in sulfide minerals that can produce sulfuric acid when exposed to the environment.
The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy said in a statement that the US would be better off promoting recycling to secure its supply of nickel and other metals. Around the world, governments and companies pushing renewable energy have found themselves battling communities opposed to similar projects, in what critics have dubbed “green colonialism”.
“We are being asked to rely on mining practices that have not been proven safe elsewhere,” the tribal government says on its website, “and we are not using our land, people or resources as part of a security experiment for corporate profit.” Not ready to risk the culture. ,
Talon Metals, a joint venture with Anglo-Australian company Rio Tinto, the world’s second largest metals and mining corporation, has long been criticized by environmental and indigenous groups around the world. Talon has an agreement with Tesla to supply 75,000 metric tons (165 million pounds) of nickel concentrate and smaller amounts of cobalt and iron from the mine over six years, when it goes into commercial production.
Talon closed the review process by submitting an environmental assessment worksheet to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. The agency will use the company’s assessment as a starting point for developing a more comprehensive environmental impact statement on the project, which will guide the department and other agencies in deciding whether or not to issue a permit.
Talon said its plan has adequate safeguards in place.
“We do not believe that addressing climate change should come at the expense of the natural environment,” Henri van Rooyen, CEO of Talon, said in a statement. “We can move to a cleaner energy system, protect the environment, respect tribal culture resources and self-determination, involve communities and working people on the front lines in project approval, and provide well-paying unions Can create jobs. It is not an option.”
The review process has historically taken at least several years. The DNR launched a website Wednesday detailing what Talon will face. But Talon is hoping the mine design will speed things up enough so that it can start production for Tesla in 2027.
The footprint of the mine will be small – only about 60 to 80 acres. No ore will be processed at the site; It will be transported by covered rail cars to the dry climate of Mercer County in western North Dakota, where all the waste will be encased in concrete for storage. All water from mine operations will be collected and treated before being returned to the environment. Access to the high-grade ore body approximately 500 to 2,000 feet (150 to 600 m) below the surface will be through sealed, concrete-lined tunnels to limit groundwater seepage.
Talon is also exploiting the local economic benefits. It said the mine would employ approximately 300 union workers in addition to the approximately 100 people already working at Tamarack, and would utilize unionized construction workers. It said nearly $100 million in mining royalties would go to state and local governments and the local school district, in addition to more than $7 million in taxes to local cities, townships and school districts in one of Minnesota’s poorest counties.
A major obstacle for NewRange, still widely known by its original name PolyMet, and Twin Metals, has been their proximity to Boundary Waters, the country’s most visited federally designated wilderness area. New Range suffered a new blow Wednesday when the Minnesota Supreme Court reinstated an appeal by environmentalists challenging that project’s air permit. But the Talon site is more than 90 miles (145 kilometers) to the southwest of those sites.
That distance doesn’t make environmentalist or tribal concerns go away. The Mille Lakh Band point out that the site is less than two miles (three kilometers) from some of its members’ homes, and say the project poses significant risks to its people, water, fish, wild rice and medicinal plants.
Still, the Department of Natural Resources said Wednesday that it is “committed to a rigorous, transparent and neutral review of the project based on science and applicable state law,” while acknowledging that Minnesotans have widespread concerns about the Talon mine and other Have thoughts. projects.
