Trump Vows to Open Minnesota's Superior National Forest to Mines

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-21/trump-vows-to-open-minnesota-s-superior-national-forest-to-mines?utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_source=facebook&utm_content=business&utm_medium=social&cmpid=socialflow-facebook-business


Superior National Forest, Minnesota. Photographer: Jim Brandenburg/ Minden Pictures/Getty Images

President Donald Trump vowed to keep open large swaths of lands in Minnesota’s remote Superior National Forest to mining, a move that could benefit a copper-nickel project being pursued by Twin Metals Minnesota LLC, a subsidiary of Antofagasta Plc.

Speaking at a rally in Duluth, Minnesota, on Wednesday, Trump said his administration would soon be “taking the first steps” to rescind a move made in the final days of the Obama administration to make hundreds of thousands of acres in the national forest off-limits to industrial activity.

“America’s rich natural resources, of which your state has a lot, were put under lock and key,” Trump said. While he promised to proceed carefully and only if the the move “could pass muster,” he added “it is going to happen, I will tell you.”

Before leaving office, President Barack Obama moved to take about 234,000 acres (95,000 hectares) in the Superior National Forest in far northern Minnesota off the table for mining exploration and other activities while a study was conducted on the environmental impact. The withdrawal requested a 20-year ban on industry activity, with a two-year moratorium to conduct the study.


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