The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Forest Service have released the final environmental analysis of Minnesota’s first proposed copper-nickel mine. It’s 3,576 pages long. Click here for an overview on the DNR website and to find links to download the full 263 MB of wholesome review process. A 30-day public review period begins Nov. 13 and ends Dec. 14. Update: Deadline for submitting comments has been extended to Dec. 21.

PolyMet proposes to develop an open-pit mine and processing facilities for the extraction of copper, nickel and platinum elements, with an estimated 20-year lifespan for mine operations. The proposed mine would be located in the St. Louis River watershed on the eastern edge of the Mesabi Iron Range, about 6 miles south of Babbitt and about 1 mile south of the existing iron-ore Northshore Mine. Processing of the ore would take place at a former industrial site, the LTV steel plant in Hoyt Lakes.

The total project area would include the open pit mine, a processing plant, tailings basin and an existing 7-mile-long railroad corridor for ore transport between the mine and the processing plant. The proposed land exchange involves 6,650 acres of federal land at the proposed mine site and 6,722 acres of non-federal land located in Lake and St. Louis counties.

Public comments can be submitted electronically at [email protected] or by mail to:

Lisa Fay, EIS project manager
Minnesota DNR Ecological and Water Resources Division
Environmental Review Unit
500 Lafayette Road, Box 25
St. Paul MN 55155-4025

All written comments become a part of the final EIS record and are public information.

Additional Linkage
Minneapolis Star Tribune: 10-year review of PolyMet mine proposal comes out
MPR News: DNR: PolyMet mine safeguards would protect NE Minn. environment
Duluth News Tribune: PolyMet primer: Where we go from here