Uncategorized - Jobs For Minnesotans

Power Costs a Threat to Range Mines

March 20, 2015

Hibbing Daily Tribune
Julis Van Susternen

Last Monday, a bill was introduced before the House Committee on Mining and Outdoor Recreation Policy which would seek to have energy-intensive industries, such as mining and manufacturing industries, to be able to negotiate the rates they pay for power to be more competitive.

Many industries pertinent to the Iron Range are known as “energy-intensive trade-exposed customers,” which implies that such businesses would be eligible for certain exemptions because of the nature of their service.

David Lislegard, Aurora city councilor and Jobs for Minnesotans advocate, said the bill allows for energy-intensive industries in the Iron Range to remain competitive, thus protecting the business from financial losses that could potentially lead to job cuts.

Kennecott Plans More Mining Exploration in Aitkin County

March 13, 2015

Duluth News Tribune
John Myers

Kennecott Exploration Company is expanding its search for copper in the Tamarack area of Aitkin County.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources reported Thursday that Kennecott will begin exploration at 12 sites where it has leased exclusive rights to search for copper, nickel and other valuable metals.

According to a statement from the DNR, the company has proposed to complete a ground-based gravity or geophysical survey as opposed to drilling. The DNR describes the gravity survey as “a non-invasive measurement using a sensor of the size of a large coffee pot to passively measure the earth’s gravity field.”

Hands-on Industrial Education at Mesabi Range College

February 24, 2015

Hibbing Daily Tribune
Angie Riebe

Sean Pelkey recalls helping his dad with rudimentary welding projects in his garage when he was just 7 years old.

The Mesabi Range Welding program student today plans to open a “small-time repair and fabrication shop out of my own garage.”

But he is also working as a “temp to hire” at Joy Global, Inc., in Virginia, a company that services the mining industry’s heavy equipment.

Pelkey and many of his fellow students in the college’s Welding, Industrial Mechanical Technology (millwright), and Process Automation Systems programs will be part of a workforce that is either directly or indirectly related to mining.

Career Path in Mining Country: ‘I Can Do That’

February 24, 2015

Mesabi Daily News
Angie Riebe

Bryan Harp grew up in Aurora, the son of a miner.

It was never his own dream to go into mining. Yet, his career path has been tied to the industry for years.

He thoroughly enjoys his current work.

It’s work that, in fact, at one time he didn’t even know existed.

Mining and Higher Education

February 20, 2015

Hometown Focus
Jean Cole

High schools students in the region who are interested in exploring career options in mining and mining-related fields can do so through the Applied Learning Institute (ALI). ALI is a partnership between the five community colleges of the Northeast Higher Education District (NHED) and 22 northeast Minnesota high schools whose purpose is to return and expand technical education opportunities in our high schools.

It’s an opportunity for secondary students to explore a career path, and earn college credit, while still in high school. ALI has six program areas, but we’re talking mining here today, so I’m focusing on their Industrial Technology program.

PEIS Consideration Was Waste of Time

February 16, 2015

Mesabi Daily News
Editorial

The proposed Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for the Superior National Forest because of copper/nickel/precious metals mining projects was an incredible waste of time brought to everyone by extreme environmentalists.

While we are pleased that U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Department of Agriculture officials finally put a stamp of common sense on this issue by saying there is no need for such a far-reaching environmental impact study, here’s what they should have also said to the environmentalists who sought it: “Why are you wasting our time and money to even have to consider this. It’s a frivolous request.”

The PEIS would have been a duplication of what is already being done as far as an environmental impact statement for the PolyMet project near Hoyt Lakes and what will be done for the nonferrous Twin Metals project near Ely and Babbitt.

Nolan: PEIS Won’t Be Needed

February 13, 2015

Mesabi Daily News
Bill Hanna

There will be no far-reaching Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Superior National Forest regarding potential copper/nickel/precious metals ventures.

Eighth District Democratic U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan said in a telephone interview on Friday that he has received confirmation from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that a PEIS will not be necessary as requested by some environmentalists.

“It would have been a totally unnecessary layer of government, which has limited resources,” Nolan said.

Counterpoint: BWCA and Mines Can Coexist

February 5, 2015

Star Tribune
Opinion: Hoyt Lakes Mayor Mark Skelton; President and CEO of the Hibbing Area Chamber of Commerce Lory Fedo; and BWCA outfitter, former Ely mayor and longtime Ely-area resident Joe Baltich Jr.

As children of mining communities and full-time residents of Iron Range communities, we agree that the BWCA is worth fighting for. So are the good-paying permanent jobs that mining brings — jobs that support families and communities, small businesses and schools. To characterize this issue as a choice between environment and jobs is a false premise. To suggest that a sustainable economy can be supported by seasonal and minimum-wage hospitality jobs is contrary to legitimate economic research and Main Street reality.

Our region already benefits from the tens of thousands of jobs and nearly $3 billion economic impact that mining and the supporting industries add to our economy each year. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average annual wage for a Minnesota mining job is $83,359, more than $30,000 above the all-industries average.

We have an opportunity to double the number of overall jobs and economic benefit, and to truly sustain our region and the state for generations to come. For all Minnesota school districts, for example, the state Department of Natural Resources estimates that the royalties to the permanent school trust lands fund from all of the copper-nickel projects will generate over $2 billion. Any good economist will tell you that you do not replace the pie, you grow the pie.

Economists Say Millennials Should Consider Careers in Trades

February 2, 2015

MPR News
Chris Arnold

As the economy continues to recover, economists are seeing stark differences between people with high school and college degrees. The unemployment rate is nearly twice as high for Americans with a high school diploma as for those with a four-year college degree or more.

But economists say that doesn’t mean everybody needs a four-year degree. In fact, millions of good-paying jobs are opening up in the trades. And some pay better than what the average college graduate makes.

PolyMet Gets $30 Million Loan from Glencore

February 2, 2015

Duluth News Tribune
John Myers

Polymet is proposing Minnesota’s first-ever copper mine, an open pit project that is awaiting state and federal environmental approval. Regulators are expected to announce this spring whether the environmental review so far is enough to allow the project to move ahead.

The proposed Minnesota mine is PolyMet’s only project and, without any income, PolyMet has been burning through cash for more than a decade as it develops a mine plan, prospects for the best deposits and conducts an environmental review for the so-called NorthMet project.

“This loan facility covers our anticipated costs through 2015 as we work through completion of the final Environmental Impact Statement and subsequent issuance of permits needed to construct and operate NorthMet,” said Jon Cherry, PolyMet president and CEO, in a statement.