Minnesota lawmakers lament cancellation of federal mining leases in home state

U.S. Reps. Pete Stauber (R-MN) and Tom Emmer (R-MN) bewailed the Biden administration’s recent cancellation of federal leases held by Twin Metals Minnesota LLC to mine minerals in the state’s Iron Range.

The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) on Jan. 26 canceled two hardrock mineral leases adjacent to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northeastern Minnesota after making a legal determination that in 2019 the department improperly renewed the leases for Twin Metals Minnesota.

“Today’s decision is another disappointing attack from an administration committed to killing American independence on key resources,” Rep. Emmer said following the department’s announcement. “Mining has been a Minnesota way of life for generations. We must not allow it to become the latest casualty in the Biden administration’s politically driven crusade.”

Twin Metals Minnesota plans to build a 21st-century underground mine with union labor to extract the copper, nickel, cobalt, platinum-group elements, and other minerals, according to separate statements released by the lawmakers. 

During the final days of the Obama administration, the company’s leases were declined for renewal, but were reinstated under the Trump administration in 2019, according to their statements.

“The Biden administration’s announcement … canceling these long-standing mineral leases will have devastating impacts on northern Minnesota and our nation,” said Rep. Stauber, who claims that the president is choosing foreign-sourced minerals over a domestic, union workforce and “doesn’t have a plan for mineral independence.”

“I saw this coming from day one, which is why I was vocal in my opposition to Secretary Haaland’s nomination as Interior Secretary, as well as the director of Bureau of Land Management, Tracy Stone-Manning,” Rep. Stauber added. “Joe Biden chose a cabinet full of the most extreme anti-mining activists. I choose to fight for our northern Minnesota miners.”

In its legal opinion, the DOI’s Office of Solicitor found “significant legal deficiencies” in the circumstances surrounding the 2019 lease renewal for Twin Metals, including that the lease renewal forms contravened the department’s regulations; DOI did not duly recognize the U.S. Forest Service’s consent authority; and the inadequate environmental analysis failed to include a no-renewal, no-action alternative.

“Subsequently, the Interior Department has canceled the two leases,” according to the DOI, which noted that “no mineral production has occurred on either lease since the original date of issuance in 1966.”