Minnesota Duluth Complex and Iron Range – Page 18

New Cliffs CEO visits Iron Range, predicts stable times for taconite – by John Myers (Duluth News Tribune – March 6, 2014)

March 7, 2014

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/

VIRGINIA — In his first 100 days on the job, Gary Halverson closed Canada’s third largest iron ore mine, halted a chromite mining project in Ontario and worked to fend off a Wall Street demand that his company split up.

Other than that, it was mostly uneventful for the new president and chief executive officer of Cliffs Natural Resources.

Halverson spent Thursday on the Iron Range, where his company operates three of Minnesota’s six major taconite iron ore operations, saying his company is “shrinking to grow’’ but predicting a good year for its part of the state’s taconite industry.

Halverson, speaking to Iron Range business and community leaders, said he expects U.S. automakers to build 16.5 million vehicles in 2014, 1 million more than 2013; that new construction should increase 6 to 8 percent this year; and that U.S. steel demand should increase 4 percent this year over last, creating a good market for his company’s taconite iron ore.

“We’re about back to full production at NorthShore (mining) and we expect to produce between 22 and 23 million tons of pellets this year’’ at U.S. operations, Halverson said, noting that’s up from 21 million tons in 2013.

Skurla study’s ‘mining boom’ would be due almost entirely to taconite – by Marshall Helmberger (MinnPost.com – March 6, 2014)

March 6, 2014

http://www.minnpost.com/

The following column was originally published in the Timberjay newspapers of Ely, Tower-Soudan and Cook-Orr. For more than three years, advocates for copper-nickel mining have pointed to the study produced by Jim Skurla, of the Labovitz School of Business at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, as a key justification for moving forward with this new type of mining.

The study, first released in 2009 and updated in 2012, touted huge impacts from planned new mining projects, in terms of jobs and new tax revenue to the state and local areas.

We’ve all heard the numbers from Skurla’s report cited by mining proponents — as many as 5,000 new jobs in what they term the “strategic mining sector” if all the proposed projects move forward as planned. To supporters, such numbers portend an economic renaissance for our region.

While some economists have taken issue with Skurla’s report, I don’t have any reason to believe that his conclusions are in error, at least within the context of economic modeling in general, which is typically about as accurate as your average weather forecast. The bigger concern, in my mind, is that his conclusions are widely misunderstood.

Minnesota’s Worst Mining Disaster – by Angie Riebe (Mesabi Daily News – February 27, 2014)

February 28, 2014

http://www.grandrapidsmn.com/

Horrific history at Milford Mine

Feb. 5, 1924. A day of history for Minnesota. A day of heartache and heroism for young miner named Frank Hrvatin Jr. It was a day like most others at the Milford Mine, two miles north of Crosby in Crow Wing County.

Miners were laboring underground on the 175-foot and 135-foot levels of the 200-foot-deep manganese mine, owned by George H. Crosby. Frank Jr., and his dad, Frank Sr., were both hard at work that afternoon — the elder Hrvatin performing his duties as a blaster, the son laboring aside his veteran partner, Harry Hosford.

The miners had blasted an underground shaft near the adjacent Foley Lake, and Frank had just dumped ore down a transfer chute, when a sudden gust of wind hit him. It was rather strange, he thought.

But he had little time to consider it further, as rushing water appeared on the level below. “Look at the water, Harry!” Frank shouted to his partner. “Oh, my God! For God’s sake run!” replied Harry. “The whole lake has come in!” Harry’s observations proved correct. The boggy water from Foley Lake roared into the mine, filling it in no time to within 15 feet of the surface.

Reader’s view: Copper-nickel mining devastated Sudbury and its surroundings – by Roberta Plewa (Duluth News Tribune – February 23, 2013)

February 24, 2014

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/

Regarding the copper-nickel mining issue, I want to mention a bit of history I have witnessed.

In the 1940s, my father worked for the railroad, entitling families free train travel. My aunt’s family lived in Kirkland Lake, Ontario. Trains traveled circuitous routes then so we passed through Sudbury, Ontario. We were aware of mining there but unconcerned. In 1965 my family and I traveled that route to visit. On the way we decided to see the “big nickel.” When we reached the hilltop I looked around and observed a nightmare. It was black as far as one could see. Nothing but black. That was the legacy of copper-nickel mining.

The publicity for and against the Range project set me to thinking. My husband Googled the words “Earth/Sudbury” and retrieved significant information. Today “Greater Sudbury,” as it is called because of its expansion, has grown and prospered due to diversification. However, the original Sudbury, in spite of 50 years of reclamation efforts, still remains devastated.

The Chamber of Commerce of Sudbury acknowledges the devastation of the past but promotes the positive surrounding area. There is no mention of outcome for the watersheds that ultimately go to Lake Huron by way of the rivers and streams. There is no mention of health issues from breathing the black dust or birth defects.

Price tag on future pollution underlies PolyMet mine debate – by Josephine Marcotty (Minneapolis Star Tribune – February 9, 2014)

February 10, 2014

http://www.startribune.com/

State is trying to set size of PolyMet’s financial guarantee. Beneath the controversy over Minnesota’s first proposed copper mine lurks a hundred-million-dollar question: How much would it cost to protect the state from water pollution, environmental calamities and mining company bankruptcies that could occur decades, even centuries, after the mine opens?

The answer could make or break the project proposed by PolyMet Mining Corp. for Minnesota’s Iron Range, and it will be front and center at the State Capitol on Tuesday, as the state’s top mining regulators testify at a hearing on how much “financial assurance” might be necessary to protect future generations of taxpayers from a new and risky type of mining. The short answer for now is: They don’t know.

If the mine goes forward, they will have to walk a perilous line. If they ask PolyMet to post too large a financial guarantee, the project may not attract the next $450 million in investment PolyMet is seeking — jeopardizing a plan that could bring hundreds of mining and construction jobs to northern Minnesota. If they ask for too little, then taxpayers someday may have to pay the price of polluting one of the most beautiful corners of the state.

“Our concern is not so much whether PolyMet is profitable or not,” said Jess Richards, director of lands and minerals for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the agency that is leading the environmental review.

Getting the details behind copper-nickel mining in Minnesota – by Renee Richardson (Brainerd Dispatch – January 30, 2014)

January 31, 2014

http://brainerddispatch.com/

Is it a decision between jobs or the environment or is the technology there to protect both? Mining for copper and nickel offers to create jobs, but can it be done without causing environmental harm affecting generations of Minnesotans?

That was part of the discussion during a Rosenmeier Center forum at Central Lakes College (CLC) in Brainerd Wednesday night. The topic was copper-nickel mining in the state’s Arrowhead, centered on the proposed PolyMet mine on what is now public land in Superior National Forest. It’s an issue that has gripped attention across the state with voices in favor of the economic development and others worried about potentially toxic repercussions.

The proposal represents the first copper-nickel-platinum group elements mining in Minnesota. The precious metals go into such things as computers, cellphones and cars.

Kathryn Hoffman, staff attorney with the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, said the proposed PolyMet mine represents the tip of the iceberg. Besides Canada-based PolyMet, other mining companies are exploring options in northern Minnesota.

Well-regulated sulfide mining can be done effectively – by Rolf Westgard (Minn Post.com – January 27, 2014)

January 28, 2014

http://www.minnpost.com/

Rolf Westgard is a professional member of the Geological Society of America and is guest faculty on energy subjects for the University of Minnesota’s Lifelong Learning program. His 2013 fall-quarter class was “Minnesota’s Volcanic Geologic History; from Mountain Building to Minerals.”

The dispute over mining Minnesota’s world-class mineral deposits is drawing big crowds to the public hearings on the new Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS ) on the proposed NorthMet Project. All those minerals — including copper, nickel, cobalt, gold and platinum — lie in a band, meandering from southwest to northeast, adjacent to the Archean granite of Minnesota’s Iron Range.

They arrived a billion years ago in the magma during northern Minnesota’s active volcanic history. They are concentrated out of the magma by liquid sulfur, which acts as a “collector,” because these elements prefer the sulphide liquid to the magma by a factor of 1,000 times more.

One of the proposed Minnesota mining ventures is by PolyMet Mining Corp. of Canada. PolyMet’s group includes Swiss commodity and mining giant Glencore, which now owns 18 percent of PolyMet shares.

Duluth: Hearing on PolyMet mine project draws hundreds, for and against – by John Myers (Forum News Service – January 18, 2014)

January 20, 2014

http://www.twincities.com/

The main ballroom at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center had 1,500 chairs set up Thursday night for the public hearing on the PolyMet copper mine project, and nearly all of them were taken.

Another 100 or so people stood along the back wall for more than two hours of public testimony on the so-called Supplemental Joint Environmental Impact Statement, the environmental review document.

The hearing, the first of three, was hosted by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Forest Service — the regulatory agencies that ultimately will decide if the environmental review is officially “adequate” or not.

The audience appeared roughly split evenly, with half saying the science is sound and the project is ready to go ahead but half saying that too many questions loom unanswered.

PolyMet wants to build Minnesota’s first copper mining operation just north of Hoyt Lakes, an open pit mine and processing center that also would produce nickel, gold, platinum, palladium and other valuable minerals.

Rio Tinto’s Michigan Nickel Mine Introduces Citizen Water Quality Testing Program – by Codi Kozacek (Circle of Blue – January 8, 2014)

January 9, 2014January 8, 2014

http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/

Circle of Blue, founded in 2002 and based in Traverse City, Michigan, is a non-profit affiliate of the Pacific Institute, and the premier news organization in the world covering freshwater issues

Scheduled to begin production of nickel and copper next year, the Eagle Mine is the first new hard rock mine to open in northern Michigan’s Copper Country in decades. It’s so new that Chevy pickups need Kevlar tires to prevent blowouts on the sharp edges of stones not yet worn by mine traffic.

Puncture-proof tires, though, are hardly the only distinctions that separate the Eagle Mine from others in Michigan or across the United States. Two years ago, Rio Tinto, the mine’s developer, made an unusual proposition to the nonprofit Superior Watershed Partnership and Land Trust, a local environmental organization.

Upended by a decade of civic protest over opening the Eagle Mine in the ecologically sensitive Yellow Dog Plains, the London-based mining company, which operates all over the world, wanted to try something very different in Michigan’s wild and water-rich Upper Peninsula. It offered to fund the Watershed Partnership to monitor environmental parameters, like water and air quality.

Taconite future looking bright in 2014, 2015 – by John Myers (Duluth News Tribune – December 17, 2013)

December 17, 2013

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/

Minnesota’s taconite iron ore producers will make less product in 2013 than they did in 2012, but the downturn looks to be brief.

It appears 2013 will end up with about 38.9 million tons produced and shipped from the Iron Range, according to state estimates. That’s down about 2 percent from 39.7 million tons produced in 2012, said Bob Wagstrom, who tracks taconite production for the Minnesota Department of Revenue.

Most of the difference was spurred by a million-ton drop in production at Cliffs Natural Resources’ Northshore Mining, which idled two production lines for most of 2013 after losing a customer. Some of that loss was buffered by an increase at U.S. Steel’s Minntac plant in Mountain Iron, Wagstrom said, and by continued increasing production by Magnetation, which has several small plants that recover useable ore from old mine waste sites.

“With the exception of Northshore, everybody was right at last year or even a little up for this year,” Wagstrom said. Northshore officials already have announced that they will restart their idled lines in 2014, boosting production. And Wagstrom said that with continued incremental increases by Magnetation and Mesabi Nugget — the state’s first iron nugget plant near Hoyt Lakes — taxable production could total about 40 million tons in 2014, a level not seen since 2000.

Minnesota’s grandfather of copper mining Lehmann dies at 84 – by John Myers (Duluth News Tribune – December 17, 2013)

December 17, 2013

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/

Ernie Lehmann, sometimes called the grandfather of copper mining in Minnesota and a tireless promoter of the region’s vast mineral wealth, has died. Jim Kiehne, a business associate, said Lehmann died peacefully in his home Friday from congestive heart failure. He was 84.

Lehmann has been prospecting for, researching and promoting Northeastern Minnesota’s mineral wealth for more than a half-century, especially focusing on the Duluth Complex and its deposits of copper, nickel, gold, platinum and other valuable metals.

“For those of you in the industry who knew his incredible drive and passion for his work, you will not be surprised to know that he was following the recent developments in northern MN and active in helping with business decisions up until the last few days of his life,” said Kate Lehmann, Ernie’s daughter and business partner, in a statement. “This is a great loss to the industry as well as our family. We will send you information about a memorial service after plans are finalized. We expect to wait until after the holidays.”

Lehmann was born in Germany, but came to the U.S. with his parents at the outset of World War II. He earned a geology degree from Williams College and has worked out of an office in Minneapolis since 1958.

PolyMet mining project tears at DFL unity – by Baird Helgeson (Minneapolis Star Tribune – December 15, 2013)

December 16, 2013

http://www.startribune.com/

A copper mine that could provide hundreds of high-paying jobs on the Iron Range also is threatening to crack the fragile alliance of blue-collar Democrats up north and the environmentalists that are an influential part of Minnesota DFL’s base.

Iron Range Democrats are looking to the proposed PolyMet copper-nickel mine as a way to rejuvenate an area rocked by years of declining mining employment. But such mines also have a long history of pollution in other states and countries, and some have warned that a mine expected to last 20 years could result in centuries of cleanup.

All sides are closely watching as Gov. Mark Dayton’s administration faces a crucial decision on the project that could come near the election.

At risk is a political coalition that has made good on a string of high-profile DFL priorities like same-sex marriage, higher taxes for the rich and expanded union influence around the state. Dayton is depending on that same coalition to help him press for a second term and keep the state House in DFL hands.

Our view: Input critical to ensure safe mining – Duluth News Tribune Editorial (December 10, 2013)

December 11, 2013

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/

The last time a massive report dropped to detail just how copper-nickel mining could be done on the Iron Range in accordance with strict state and federal environmental laws and standards, it got blasted. The largest environmental agency in the land, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, led the way, saying PolyMet’s plans for a type of mining with a less-than-stellar track record could lead to “adverse environmental impacts” on Northeastern Minnesota. Others weren’t as kind with their language or criticism.

So what was called a “Draft Environmental Impact Statement,” or DEIS, went back for more work, more thought, and better, safer plans — just as it should have. The lengthy environmental-review process was working and working well, helping to ensure, in the end, a project that’s safe, lawful and sensitive to the environment and an industry with hundreds of good-paying jobs and a multibillion-dollar boon for our region.

Nearly three years later, another massive report has dropped, an updated report, this one called a “Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement, or SDEIS.

At summit, Eastern Kentucky leaders look to Minnesota for ideas to renew economy – by Bill Estep and John Cheves (Lexington Herald-Leader – December 9, 2013)

December 10, 2013

http://www.kentucky.com/

PIKEVILLE — Leaders grappling with a painful downturn in coal jobs in Eastern Kentucky got a primer Monday on how another state dealt with a similar collapse in its mining region.

The situation 30 years ago in the iron-ore belt in northeastern Minnesota was dire. Mining jobs dropped by more than 60 percent in 18 months and people started moving out, at times stopping by the bank on the way out of town to drop off keys to houses and cars they couldn’t pay for, said Joe Sertich, a former community-college president in the region known as the Iron Range.

The Eastern Kentucky coalfield has been similarly battered by layoffs. The coal industry has cut 6,000 jobs since mid-2011, with some counties losing more than half the jobs that were once the bulwark of their economy.

Sertich spoke Monday at a daylong summit in Pikeville called Shaping Our Appalachia Region, or SOAR. U.S. Rep Hal Rogers, R-Somerset, and Gov. Steve Beshear, a Democrat, set up the summit to generate ideas to diversify the economy of Eastern Kentucky.

State releases long-awaited impact statement for PolyMet mine, opens public comment period – by Josephine Marcotty (Minneapolis Star Tribune – December 7, 2013)

December 10, 2013

http://www.startribune.com/

State regulators unveiled their forecast Friday of the way Minnesota’s first copper mine would affect the air, water and lives of people in northeastern Minnesota, a document that is expected to escalate an already polarizing debate about what could be a new era of mining in the most beautiful and untouched part of the state.

The release of the environmental impact statement, a dense, 2,200-page document that took five years and cost $22 million, sets the stage for a 90-day public comment period starting Dec. 14 and, potentially, for a much larger debate over Minnesota’s future.

PolyMet Mining Corp., which promises a $650 million investment and 300 to 360 jobs over 20 years, is only the first of many companies lining up to tap one of the world’s largest untouched deposits of copper, nickel and other precious metals lying beneath the forests and lakes of northeast Minnesota. Many on both sides of the issue say the debate in the coming months, which is expected to generate tens of thousands of public comments, will influence how and whether copper mining in the state becomes a reality.