WDIO-TV
Baihly Warfield
*Click link to view video

It’s been a couple years since the public has been invited on to the Polymet site in Hoyt Lakes. Right now, it resembles a ghost town. But on Wednesday, dozens of visitors graced its dirt roads.

Polymet invited vendors, contractors, future employees and the public to an open house at the Giant’s Ridge chalet for a project update, which was followed by tours of the potential mine.

Read More: http://www.wdio.com/news/polymet-mining-/4302649/

Business North
Beth Bily

PolyMet may have completed it’s the environmental review, but advocates are still stressing the merits of the proposed non-ferrous mining project. Now, with the PolyMet entering its permitting phase, Mining Minnesota is keeping up with its efforts to inform the public about its potential benefits.

Non-ferrous advocate organization, Mining Minnesota, took that message to the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday morning, noting the economic potential of PolyMet as well as other non-ferrous mining projects at various stages of development.

“Minnesota is a mining state,” Mining Minnesota Executive Director Frank Ongaro said, adding that it’s the third largest mining state in country in terms of employment, GDP contributions and labor income. “What we have is an opportunity to develop the next generation of mining and double the size of the mining industry.”

Non-ferrous mineral deposits located along the Duluth Complex in northern Minnesota include copper, nickel, platinum, palladium and gold, and others. In addition to Canadian-based PolyMet, several companies have invested in non-ferrous proposals including Antofagasta, Kennecott and Rio Tinto, to name a few.

Read More: http://www.businessnorth.com/daily_briefing/mining-minnesota-pitches-for-polymet/article_28aa89f6-9aca-11e6-ab12-d720b1324075.html

Mesabi Daily News
Britta Arendt

“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.

Read More: http://www.virginiamn.com/mine/enbridge-poised-to-provide-jobs/article_545986cc-9b30-11e6-842b-1ffbb34f47f8.html

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.

Read More: http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/opinion/4129316-view-mining-high-tech-mining-provides-metals-needed-make-modern-devices

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.

Read More: http://www.mprnews.org/story/2016/09/13/duluth-council-declines-call-for-polymet-hearing