Minnesota DNR delays NewRange permit for copper-nickel mine

HOYT LAKES, Minn. (Northern News Now) – A setback for plans to mine copper and nickel on the Range.

The Minnesota DNR is delaying a decision on NewRange’s NorthMet facility permit to mine until next summer.

The company, formerly PolyMet, has been pushing to mine copper and nickel just south of Babbitt for nearly 20 years.

In 2018, the DNR gave the company the green light to issue a permit to mine.

However, after pushback from environmental groups, the Minnesota Supreme Court reversed the permit in August 2023.

Now back in the DNR’s hands, the agency is mulling whether to reissue NewRange’s permit to mine in light of the company considering changes to its original mine plan.

The DNR announced on Monday it will delay a decision until August, which would mark a year from when NewRange said it planned to spend a year studying potential changes.

Environmental groups like Friends of the Boundary Waters are celebrating the decision to delay.

Executive Director for Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness Chris Knopf released the following statement after the decision:

“The people of Minnesota should be thrilled by DNR’s decision to pause the proceedings on PolyMet’s permit to mine. Months ago, when PolyMet, or NewRange Copper Nickel, announced it would look into changing its mine plan, it confirmed what we’ve known all along: the project is fundamentally flawed and cannot meet environmental standards.

We have been frustrated to see state agencies such as the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) and Department of Natural Resources (DNR) spend millions of taxpayer dollars defending shoddy permits PolyMet now wants to revisit. PolyMet and these agencies have wasted public resources on a project that should never have been permitted in the first place.

We are happy to see DNR make the right decision to stop defending the indefensible. We hope that DNR will take additional steps to put Minnesota’s water first and throw out this dangerous mining proposal that, time and time again, has been shown to not meet legal or environmental standards.”

Northern News Now reached out to NewRange for comment but has not heard back.

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