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The Guardian
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Minnesota's boundary waters are pristine. Trump's ‘Big, Beautiful Bill' could pollute them forever
The story is co-published with Public Domain, an investigative newsroom that covers public lands, wildlife and government A little-known provision of Donald Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill' would open thousands of acres of public lands at the edge of Minnesota's Boundary Waters wilderness to a foreign-owned mining company. The move amounts to a giveaway 'in perpetuity' to a company that has lobbied in Washington for years, environmental campaigners say, potentially opening up one of the US's most famous wilderness areas to water-pollution risks. Earlier this month, conservationists cheered when Congress withdrew from the reconciliation bill several provisions that would have sold off hundreds of thousands of acres of federal land in Nevada and Utah. Those provisions had sparked fury among public land advocates and staunch opposition even from some Republicans, including the representative Ryan Zinke of Montana, who vowed to oppose the bill if the land sell-off provisions were retained. Despite that fury, a lesser-known public lands giveaway remained in the reconciliation bill. If approved as currently written, the provision could lease in perpetuity land near Minnesota's Boundary Waters wilderness, an enormous complex of pristine lakes and untrammeled forests, to Twin Metals Minnesota, a subsidiary of the Chilean mining giant Antofagasta PLC. Becky Rom, the national chair of Save the Boundary Waters, a campaign to protect the wilderness area from mining, described the provision as 'a giveaway of critical and sensitive federal public land forever to a single mining company'. 'It is a giveaway,' Rom added. 'This is forever.' First set aside by Congress in 1964, the 1.1m-acre Boundary Waters canoe area wilderness, as it is officially known, is the only large-scale protected sub-boreal forest in the lower 48 states. Each year, some 150,000 visitors come to partake in the all-American tradition of canoe travel and enjoy a pristine landscape where wolves, moose, loons, bears and bald eagles thrive. Those who come to explore it help contribute to Minnesota's $13.5bn outdoor recreation economy. According to the US Forest Service, the landscape contains 'healthy forests with extremely high water quality'. It is 'irreplaceable'. But the boundary waters also sit atop mineral-rich lands. Antofagasta has for years sought to develop a copper and nickel mine on public land near the wilderness, amid the headwaters that feed its famous lakes. The company and its American subsidiary, Twin Metals Minnesota, came close to success during the first Trump administration, which overturned an Obama-era denial and renewed mining leases for the project. The Biden administration, recognizing the threat the proposed mine posed to the environment, subsequently rescinded those discretionary leases, arguing that they were legally deficient. The Biden administration also issued an order that prohibited mining for 20 years in the portion of the Superior national forest where Antofagasta wants to extract copper and nickel. Twin Metals Minnesota, which declined to comment for this story, filed litigation to fight the Biden policies in court. That lawsuit is ongoing. Meanwhile, the companies went to Capitol Hill in their quest to build their mine, which they say will directly employ more than 750 people and could revitalize 'the entire region'. In the last three years alone, Antofagasta and Twin Metals have poured more than $1.6m dollars into lobbying efforts in Washington DC, according to OpenSecrets. Among the lobbying shops they retained is Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, the powerful firm that was the long-time home of David Bernhardt, interior secretary during Trump's first term. Brownstein's employees and its political action committee, in turn, were together among the top 10 donors last election cycle to the campaign committee of representative Bruce Westerman of Arkansas, the powerful chair of the House natural resources committee. Last month, that lobbying apparently bore fruit. Westerman's committee unveiled its portion of the president's reconciliation bill and it contained a major win for Antofagasta and Twin Metals. The bill, which passed the House and is now being considered by the Senate, includes provisions that rescind the Biden administration's 20-year mining prohibition in the Superior national forest and grants Twin Metals 20-year mining leases to pursue its copper-nickel project on nearly 6,000 acres (2,500 hectares) of public land near the boundary waters. It also grants Twin Metals rights in perpetuity to lease renewals and it prohibits judicial review of the leases, meaning that citizens cannot sue to challenge them. Only one party retains rights to judicial review per the legislation: Twin Metals. If the federal government fails to comply with the reconciliation bill, Twin Metals can sue to enforce it. 'The reconciliation bill compels the issuance of four leases forever,' said Rom. 'To get there it, expressly overrides four federal laws, it expressly overrides BLM regulations, so all of those rules that apply to everybody else in the world, the laws, the regulations, for Antofagasta they don't apply.' 'There is a heavy hand in here,' she added. 'The heavy hand of Antofagasta.' Neither Antofagasta nor Westerman's office responded to requests for comment. Twin Metals has said its mine will provide a supply of strategic minerals that are important to national security and the emerging green energy economy. For conservationists like Rom – who grew up helping her father run an outfitting business in the Boundary Waters wilderness and has since spent decades working to protect the wilderness area – the major threat from Twin Metals' proposed mine is water pollution. That threat was described in a 2016 letter by the US Forest Service, when it initially denied its consent to the Twin Metals mine leases during the waning days of the Obama administration. There is 'inherent potential risk that development of a regionally-untested copper-nickel sulfide ore mine within the same watershed as the BWCAW might cause serious and irreplaceable harm to this unique, iconic, and irreplaceable wilderness area'. The agency's letter particularly drew attention to the risk of acid mine drainage, a potent form of water pollution that is a well-known risk of the sort of sulfide-ore mining that Twin Metals and Antofagasta wish to undertake. Any drainage from the 'mine workings and mining wastes are likely to be highly acidic', the agency said of the Twin Metals mine. Any failure to contain such waste could have 'potentially severe consequences for the BWCAW' and could 'cover a very broad region'. Twin Metals Minnesota has denied that acid mine drainage will be a potential threat, calling it a 'nonissue'. As the reconciliation bill moves through the Senate, conservationists as well as their allies in Congress are hoping it will be stripped out of the bill before it lands on Trump's desk. They argue, among other things, that the bill's Twin Metals provision may run afoul of Senate rules governing the reconciliation process, which disallows the body from including 'extraneous provisions' in budget bills. Among the opponents of the Twin Metals provision is Minnesota's junior senator, Tina Smith, though the state's congressional delegation is split on the issue. 'Senator Smith strongly opposes the reckless Republican provision in the US House-passed Big Beautiful Bill that would give a foreign conglomerate full permission to build a copper-nickel sulfide mine right on the doorstep of the Boundary Waters watershed,' wrote a spokesperson for Smith in a statement to Public Domain. 'By including this language in their massive budget bill, Republicans in Congress have made it clear they don't care about the science or the data, which shows unequivocally that this type of mining poses an unacceptable risk and stands to irreversibly pollute this pristine wilderness.'
Reuters
08-04-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Chile's Antofagasta expects copper demand to defy tariff turmoil
SANTIAGO, April 8 (Reuters) - The trade war stirred by U.S. tariffs raises a risk for metal demand, the head of Chile's Antofagasta (ANTO.L), opens new tab said, although he predicted AI and other technology could offset any loss of traditional consumption caused by economic weakness. He also said President Donald Trump's policies could lead to a more favourable environment for investment in mining. Trump's announcement of tariffs last week, followed by retaliation from China, has caused turmoil on financial markets and sent copper prices plunging. Antofagasta CEO Ivan Arriagada said in an interview on the sidelines of the CESCO copper conference in Santiago that he expected supplies of copper, needed for construction and the transition to a lower carbon economy, would remain in limited supply. That meant he was more concerned about the impact on the wider economy of the trade war, which could ultimately reduce copper demand, than the resilience of the copper market itself. Should a global economic slowdown destroy demand for copper from construction and infrastructure, Arriagada said he expected use by data centers, renewable energy and AI to compensate. Trump has yet to announce special measures for copper, but his administration is looking into potential tariffs. Arriagada said Chile, the world's biggest copper producer, was in a good position to avoid U.S. tariffs as the United States has a trade surplus with Chile, a free-trade partner that provides more than half of U.S. copper imports. London-listed Antofagasta operates four copper mines in Chile and is developing a mine in the United States. It targets output of 660,000 to 700,000 metric tons this year, after producing 664,000 tons last year. Its Twin Metals copper and nickel mine project in Minnesota needs to resolve a lawsuit over permitting, and then obtain the necessary approvals. "In the current environment, where there is a lot more support for mining investment, it should be easier and should happen," Arriagada said, although he added there was no sign yet of progress. As U.S. clients rushed to stockpile in many sectors ahead of Trump's announcement last week, Antofagasta sent only a small additional amount of copper to the United States, Arriagada said, without giving details.
Zawya
27-03-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Can Trump's critical minerals drive pass the copper test?: Andy Home
LONDON - U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order on boosting domestic minerals production is intended to blast a path through the thicket of mine permitting in the United States. It takes an average of nearly 29 years for a new mine to go from discovery to production in the United States, the second-longest lead time in the world after Zambia, according to S&P Global. Permitting on Federal Land in particular is a big problem and one that the U.S. government is uniquely qualified to solve. The Joe Biden administration struggled to reconcile its ambition to produce more "green" metals for the energy transition with its environmental and social credentials. Trump has no such qualms. The Secretary of the Interior is instructed to "prioritize mineral production activities over other types of activities on Federal lands". But there is a danger that the political pendulum will swing too far the other way. There is also the problem that new mines still take many years to build and the U.S. lacks the processing capacity to convert raw materials to metal. Copper is a case in point. STALLED COPPER PROJECTS Copper is not on the U.S. critical minerals list but gets a special mention in Trump's executive order, along with gold, uranium, potash and, if the chair of the National Energy Dominance Council so determines, any other element "such as coal". Copper has come to epitomise the problem of getting new mines up and running in the United States. Big copper projects such as Resolution in Arizona, Pebble in Alaska and Twin Metals in Minnesota have been stalled for years at the federal permitting stage. All three could benefit from the change of political wind in Washington. But opposition from Native Americans and environmental protection groups is not going to magically disappear at the stroke of a presidential pen. Indeed, it might well become more entrenched. Big mining companies such as Rio Tinto, which owns a majority stake in Resolution, have learnt the hard way that mining without community consent is highly problematic. The company has buy-in from both Serbian and European Union policy-makers for its giant Jadar lithium mine but progress has ground to a halt due to mass protests. EXTENDED TIME-LINE The Resolution mine has the potential to become the biggest copper producer in North America, capable of meeting up to 25% of the United States' annual copper demand. The copper will come with by-products such as bismuth, indium and tellurium, all of which are on the critical minerals list. But even assuming accelerated permitting, the mine will still take around 10 years to construct, meaning the first copper concentrates would be produced only around the middle of the next decade. Resolution is located in Arizona, which has a long history of mining and associated infrastructure. The Pebble and Twin Metals projects face extra challenges in the form of physical remoteness and potential impact on salmon spawning grounds and the Boundary Waters Wilderness respectively. Fast-tracking permitting for such projects doesn't mean they'll be ready to generate copper any time soon. PROCESSING GAP Rio's Resolution mine could be integrated into the company's existing Kennecott smelting and refining operations in Utah. Kennecott, however, is only one of two active primary copper smelters in the United States. The other one is Miami in Arizona operated by Freeport-McMoRan. There has been speculation but so far no confirmation that Grupo Mexico might re-open its Hayden smelter in the same state. The United States is already a net exporter of copper concentrates for want of sufficient processing capacity. Some 320,000 tons of contained metal in concentrates were shipped overseas last year, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The three main destinations were Mexico, China and Canada. Clearly there is enough North American smelting capacity to absorb extra U.S. mine production but the Biden administration's policy of "friend-shoring" has been replaced with Trump's tariff threats against the United States' two neighbours. Moreover, every copper smelter is currently competing with China, where smelting and refining capacity is huge and still growing. Smelter margins are being squeezed in the form of historically low treatment charges for converting raw material into metal at historic lows. Building sufficient domestic capacity to process extra U.S. mine production could be a thornier problem than building the new mines in the first place. URBAN SOLUTION The fixation on headline-grabbing mega mine projects to reduce U.S. import dependency misses a far easier and lower-cost solution. U.S. processing capacity for recycling copper is growing. Germany's Aurubis AG has invested $800 million in a new smelter in Georgia for treating up to 180,000 metric tons of complex recyclables such as circuit-boards. The United States is the world's largest exporter of copper scrap to the tune of almost a million tons each year. Much of it is sent to China for processing. Recycling all that lost metal at domestic facilities wouldn't eliminate U.S. copper import dependency but it would significantly close the gap. Recycling comes with the benefits of an existing resource, low capital expenditure relative to new mines, shorter lead-times to production and lower carbon footprint. The Trump administration's rush to ditch anything associated with Biden's green agenda risks overlooking the one part of the domestic copper supply chain that is already attracting investment and increasing capacity. If "mine baby mine" is the mantra, channelling more federal funds into "urban mining" is going to reap faster rewards than any big new conventional mine. The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters (Editing by David Evans)
Boston Globe
28-02-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Trump to meet with Zelensky as Ukraine seeks an end to Russian aggression. Follow live updates.
Trump makes US copper mining a focus of his domestic minerals policy — 8:32 a.m. .cls-1{clip-path:url(#clippath);}.cls-2,.cls-3{fill:none;}.cls-2,.cls-3,.cls-4{stroke-width:0px;}.cls-5{clip-path:url(#clippath-1);}.cls-3{clip-rule:evenodd;} Link copied By the Associated Press From talk of acquiring Greenland and its vast mineral wealth to prodding Ukraine for minerals in exchange for help fending off Russia's invasion, Trump has made the raw materials of modern life a pillar of his foreign policy. Advertisement An executive order Trump signed Tuesday calls for boosting the domestic copper industry by investigating the national security implications of imports and weighing tariffs as a response. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up It could mean a new day for U.S. copper mining, and new worries for environmental groups that are contesting proposals such as the stalled Twin Metals project in northern Minnesota's Boundary Waters, a lake-filled wilderness on the U.S.-Canada border. Social Security Administration could cut up to 50% of its workforce — 8:20 a.m. .cls-1{clip-path:url(#clippath);}.cls-2,.cls-3{fill:none;}.cls-2,.cls-3,.cls-4{stroke-width:0px;}.cls-5{clip-path:url(#clippath-1);}.cls-3{clip-rule:evenodd;} Link copied By the Associated Press The Social Security Administration is preparing to lay off at least 7,000 people from its workforce of 60,000, according to a person familiar with the agency's plans who is not authorized to speak publicly. The workforce reduction, according to a second person who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, could be as high as 50%. It's unclear how the layoffs will directly impact the benefits of the 72.5 million Social Security beneficiaries, which include retirees and children who receive retirement and disability benefits. However, advocates and Democratic lawmakers warn that layoffs will reduce the agency's ability to serve recipients in a timely manner. Some say cuts to the workforce are, in effect, a cut in benefits. Former defense chiefs call for congressional hearings on Trump's firing of senior military leaders — 816 a.m. .cls-1{clip-path:url(#clippath);}.cls-2,.cls-3{fill:none;}.cls-2,.cls-3,.cls-4{stroke-width:0px;}.cls-5{clip-path:url(#clippath-1);}.cls-3{clip-rule:evenodd;} Link copied By the Associated Press Five former secretaries of defense are calling on Congress to hold immediate hearings on President Trump's recent firings of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and several other senior military leaders, according to a letter obtained by The Associated Press. Advertisement The five men — who represented Republican and Democratic administrations over the past three decades — said the dismissals were alarming, raised 'troubling questions about the administration's desire to politicize the military' and removed legal constraints on the president's power. Former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force General CQ Brown. Mark Schiefelbein/Associated Press At meeting with Trump, Zelensky will seek security assurances against future Russian aggression — 8:03 a.m. .cls-1{clip-path:url(#clippath);}.cls-2,.cls-3{fill:none;}.cls-2,.cls-3,.cls-4{stroke-width:0px;}.cls-5{clip-path:url(#clippath-1);}.cls-3{clip-rule:evenodd;} Link copied By the Associated Press Ukraine's leader will meet with Trump in Washington on Friday at a pivotal moment for his country, one that hinges on whether he can persuade Trump to provide some form of U.S. backing for Ukraine's security against any future Russian aggression. During his trip to Washington, Zelenskyy's delegation is expected to sign a landmark economic agreement with the U.S. aimed at financing the reconstruction of war-damaged Ukraine, a deal that would closely tie the two countries together for years to come. Though the deal, which is seen as a step toward ending the three-year war, references the importance of Ukraine's security, it leaves that to a separate agreement to be discussed between the two leaders — talks that are likely to commence Friday. As Ukrainian forces hold out against slow but steady advances by Russia's larger and better-equipped army, leaders in Kyiv have pushed to ensure a potential U.S.-brokered peace plan would include guarantees for the country's future security.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The Latest: Trump to meet with Zelenskyy as Ukraine seeks an end to Russian aggression
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet with President Donald Trump in Washington on Friday at a pivotal moment for his country, one that hinges on whether he can persuade Trump to provide some form of U.S. backing for Ukraine's security against any future Russian aggression. During his trip to Washington, Zelenskyy's delegation is expected to sign a landmark economic agreement with the U.S. aimed at financing the reconstruction of war-damaged Ukraine, a deal that would closely tie the two countries together for years to come. Here's the latest: See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. Trump makes US copper mining a focus of his domestic minerals policy From talk of acquiring Greenland and its vast mineral wealth to prodding Ukraine for minerals in exchange for help fending off Russia's invasion, Trump has made the raw materials of modern life a pillar of his foreign policy. An executive order Trump signed Tuesday calls for boosting the domestic copper industry by investigating the national security implications of imports and weighing tariffs as a response. It could mean a new day for U.S. copper mining, and new worries for environmental groups that are contesting proposals such as the stalled Twin Metals project in northern Minnesota's Boundary Waters, a lake-filled wilderness on the U.S.-Canada border. ▶ Read more about the U.S. copper industry Social Security Administration could cut up to 50% of its workforce The Social Security Administration is preparing to lay off at least 7,000 people from its workforce of 60,000, according to a person familiar with the agency's plans who is not authorized to speak publicly. The workforce reduction, according to a second person who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, could be as high as 50%. It's unclear how the layoffs will directly impact the benefits of the 72.5 million Social Security beneficiaries, which include retirees and children who receive retirement and disability benefits. However, advocates and Democratic lawmakers warn that layoffs will reduce the agency's ability to serve recipients in a timely manner. Some say cuts to the workforce are, in effect, a cut in benefits. ▶ Read more about the Social Security Administration's plans to reduce its workforce Former defense chiefs call for congressional hearings on Trump's firing of senior military leaders Five former secretaries of defense are calling on Congress to hold immediate hearings on President Donald Trump's recent firings of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and several other senior military leaders, according to a letter obtained by The Associated Press. The five men — who represented Republican and Democratic administrations over the past three decades — said the dismissals were alarming, raised 'troubling questions about the administration's desire to politicize the military' and removed legal constraints on the president's power. ▶ Read more about the defense chiefs' call for congressional hearings Judge finds mass firings of federal probationary workers were likely unlawful A federal judge in San Francisco on Thursday found that the mass firings of probationary employees were likely unlawful, granting temporary relief to a coalition of labor unions and organizations that has sued to stop the Trump administration's massive dismantling of the federal workforce. U.S. District Judge William Alsup ordered the Office of Personnel Management to inform certain federal agencies that it had no authority to order the firings of probationary employees, including at the Department of Defense. Lawyers for the government agree that the office has no authority to hire or fire employees in other agencies. But they said the Office of Personnel Management asked agencies to review and determine whether employees on probation were fit for continued employment. They also said that probationary employees are not guaranteed employment and that only the highest performing and mission-critical employees should be hired. Attorneys for the coalition cheered the order, although it does not mean that fired employees will automatically be rehired or that future firings will not occur. ▶ Read more about the judge's ruling A good rapport but mixed signals on Ukraine: Takeaways from Keir Starmer's trip to Washington Starmer wore a broad smile aboard the plane home from Washington. He landed back in Britain on Friday with the satisfaction of a tricky mission not quite accomplished, but off to a flying start. Starmer's goals for his trip were to persuade Trump to provide Ukraine with security guarantees in any peace deal and head off duties on British goods while pursuing a rapport with an unpredictable U.S. leader who is the center-left prime minister's opposite in temperament and political outlook. On the personal front, he appeared to be remarkably successful. Whether that will bolster U.S. support for Kyiv or spare the U.K. from tariffs, only time will tell. ▶ Read takeaways from Starmer's White House visit At meeting with Trump, Zelenskyy will seek security assurances against future Russian aggression Ukraine's leader will meet with Trump in Washington on Friday at a pivotal moment for his country, one that hinges on whether he can persuade Trump to provide some form of U.S. backing for Ukraine's security against any future Russian aggression. During his trip to Washington, Zelenskyy's delegation is expected to sign a landmark economic agreement with the U.S. aimed at financing the reconstruction of war-damaged Ukraine, a deal that would closely tie the two countries together for years to come. Though the deal, which is seen as a step toward ending the three-year war, references the importance of Ukraine's security, it leaves that to a separate agreement to be discussed between the two leaders — talks that are likely to commence Friday. As Ukrainian forces hold out against slow but steady advances by Russia's larger and better-equipped army, leaders in Kyiv have pushed to ensure a potential U.S.-brokered peace plan would include guarantees for the country's future security. ▶ Read more about Zelenskyy's trip to Washington
