Uncategorized - Jobs For Minnesotans

MINE IX: Enbridge Poised to Provide Jobs

October 25, 2016

“It’s the nature of the job to travel but it would be great if they could spend a year or two working at home near their families,” says Jason George Special Projects Director for pipefitters union Local 49.

George knows how important a project like the Enbridge Line 3 replacement could be for Iron Range workers and their families. He also serves on the board of Jobs for Minnesotans, a coalition of organizations representing business, labor and local governments all working together for the common goal of job creation in Minnesota.

Enbridge Energy’s Line 3 is a 1,097-mile crude oil pipeline extending from Edmonton, Alberta to Superior, Wis. It was installed in the 1960s. The company is poised to replace 282 miles of 34-inch diameter pipeline running through northern Minnesota with 337 miles of 36-inch pipeline to allow Enbridge to better respond to varying refinery needs. The project also includes the installation of eight pump stations. The update is expected to both restore historical operating capabilities and move 760,000 barrels per day.

A View on Mining: High-Tech Mining Provides Metals Needed to Make Modern Devices

October 4, 2016

Duluth News Tribune
Phillips S. Baker
*Phillips S. Baker is CEO of Hecla Mining Co., the largest silver-mining company in the U.S. It has operations in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and Noxon, Mont.

Here’s a question: What does mining have to do with your cellphone?

The answer, surprisingly, is “a lot.” Whether you know it or not, your smartphone was constructed from a wide array of metals and minerals mined from deep inside the Earth. Smartphones, laptop computers, solar panels, wind turbines and electric cars require significant amounts of gold, silver, platinum, palladium, copper, tin and other metals. In fact, just about every device needed in the 21st-century economy relies on a number of these key metals and minerals.

Duluth Council Declines to Call for PolyMet Hearings

September 13, 2016

Minnesota Public Radio
Dan Kraker
*Click link for audio

After two and a half hours of passionate testimony, the Duluth City Council voted down a resolution Monday night that would have called for another step in the regulatory process for a proposed copper-nickel mine.

The City Council vote was strictly advisory. The proposal would have pushed for so-called “evidentiary hearings” in front of an administrative law judge before the Minnesota DNR decides whether to approve the PolyMet mine.

But the advisory nature of the vote didn’t stop more than 100 residents of Duluth and northeast Minnesota from packing the stuffy council chambers.

David Ross, president of the Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce, called the resolution a last-minute effort to block PolyMet.

Twin Metals Minnesota Sues Feds Over Minerals Lease Renewals

September 12, 2016

Star Tribune
Steve Karnowski

A mining company that hopes to build an underground copper-nickel mine near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness sued the federal government Monday to try to keep the mineral rights leases it needs for the $2.8 billion project to go forward.

Twin Metals Minnesota’s lawsuit seeks to invalidate a recent opinion by the solicitor of the U.S. Department of the Interior that the company doesn’t have an automatic right to renew its two leases, which were first issued in 1966 and last renewed in 2004. The lawsuit said earlier renewals were routinely granted.

The solicitor’s opinion, sent to the federal Bureau of Land Management, has “cast a cloud of uncertainty” over the project, blocking the company from engaging in long-term planning, investment, development and operational decisions, Twin Metals’ Chief Operating Officer Ian Duckworth said in a statement.

PolyMet Submits Application for Air Emissions Permit

August 24, 2016

Duluth News Tribune
Staff

PolyMet Mining Inc. on Wednesday submitted another in a series of applications for state and federal permits needed to build a proposed copper-nickel mine and processing center on the Iron Range.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency said it has received the company’s application for an air-emissions permit.

PolyMet Submits Another Permit Application

August 2, 2016

Duluth News Tribune
John Myers

PolyMet Mining, Inc. on Tuesday submitted another in a series of applications for state and federal permits needed to build a proposed copper-nickel mine and processing center on the Iron Range.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency said it has received the company’s application for so-called 401-certification that involves water and wetlands that will be impacted by the project. The applications also includes the company’s plan to replace wetlands destroyed.

Copper/Nickel Range Support Ongoing

July 13, 2016

Mesabi Daily News
Editorial Board

Supporters of simple, fair and even-handed treatment of the Twin Metals mining leases issue will trek to the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center today for a U.S. Forest Service listening session.

It’s about renewal of leases that should be a slam dunk for continued exploration of possible copper/nickel mining in the region.

Twin Metals has proved itself to be a good business neighbor in Minnesota, especially on the Iron Range. It has already produced jobs, while paying taxes and investing about $400 million into the state.

We applaud all those who today will continue the good fight for what is right for the state and Iron Range and its people and workers.

Our View: Follow the Process for Twin Metals

July 13, 2016

Duluth News Tribune
Editorial Board

“A 30-day public comment period and … two public hearing sessions is not a substitute for a three- to five-year federal environmental review process that allows for substantial scientific input,” Twin Metals Government Affairs Adviser Bob McFarlin astutely pointed out in a meeting last week with the News Tribune, including with members of the editorial board. “That … process, when it is followed, is the process that allows communities, businesses, stakeholders and other organizations the opportunity to participate. If our project or any project is stopped at this point, that is a unilateral decision by a federal agency that does not take into account, the same way (the completion of an Environmental Impact Statement) would, the input from affected stakeholders.”

A renewal rejection now by the U.S. Forest Service would eliminate the public from the process. And would be in contrast to past approvals, McFarlin pointed out, a “complete, 180-degree turn on the Forest Service’s opinion on the environmental impacts — and nothing new has occurred.”

PolyMet Submits 4 Permit Applications

July 11, 2016

Mesabi Daily News
Bill Hanna

PolyMet Mining has submitted the first four applications for its copper/nickel/precious metals project near Hoyt Lakes and Babbitt to the Department of Natural Resources.

The company also announced on Monday that it has repaid a $5.1 million loan, including interest, to the Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation Board.

The applications are for water-related permits required for construction and operation of the PolyMet project to be located in the footprint of the former LTV Mining Co. site.

“Formal submission of water-related permit applications is another important milestone for PolyMet and the NorthMet Project,” said PolyMet President and CEO Jon Cherry.

Mining Supporters Rally in Virginia

June 28, 2016

KQDS TV
Zach Richie
*Click link to view video

Iron Range Leaders gathered in Virginia to voice their anger towards the U.S. Forest Service over a listening session taking place on mineral lease renewals in Duluth.

“It’s not just about Minnesota’s Iron Range. It’s about our national security, it’s about our national economy, it’s about our ability to grow and prosper,” said Nolan.

The Forest Service said they want to get public opinion on the issue, but this crowd said they are not being heard.