If it's not grown it's mined.
All metals comes out of the ground from a mine.
From your wife's wedding ring to your steel traps to that pickup truck you drive to the copper wiring in your house, it came out of the ground. From a mine.

The vast majority of metalic mineral deposits are found on public land, that's because by the early 1900's all the tillable and grazing land in the USA had been either homesteaded or appropriated by other methods. That left the rest of the mountainous and rocky lands still in the public domain. These lands were then divided up into Military lands, National Parks, Monuments, Wildlife Refuges, Forest Service, and BLM lands.

For the most part mineral entry was only allowed on Forest Servive and BLM land, and even large parts of these two land bases have been withdrawn from mineral entry for various reasons.

These lands are where this Country's mineral resources are located. These mineralized areas in the Superior National Forest were available for mineral development when the exploration companies discovered the minerals. They then spent millions of dollars defining the deposits. Now the anti mining enviroment extremists want the government to pull the rug out from under them.

There would be zero mines developed in this Country if these whackos got their way.

So you think it's greedy for those people living in an economically depressed part of the Country to want good high paying jobs that the mines would bring? But it's not greedy for a few yuppies from the Twin Cities to want the whole place for their playground?

And in the long run, so it will not mater that unspoiled parts of the USA be opened up to drilling,mining and who knows what else. why not look to make sure these areas are protected and can not be spoiled. How many here will be on their ear when the damage is at the point of no return in Anwr and it so screwed up no fix to it. How long before the water runs to low on the Colorado and cant generate power. As far as America first that all changed with NAFTA when it was signed it signaled nothing more than opening the doors to take as much production out of the USA as possible,maybe some body can come up with a number. Just how many companies have relocated back here no huge number I bet. Take a hard look at the things we all use each day look and see where it is made, just how many of the things we all wear are made here the good old USA, Just how dependent are we on those huge cargo ships that line up at the ports each and every day. Pretty good for the powerful USA And as far as habitat, I have watched for years the clearing of many ,many small woodlots fence removal clearing of the trees and brush from what is poorer land clearing all the trees from along creeks filling in and covering the sink holes, all for a few more rows of crop. And down here they farm out into the state highway right of way NOT their land. Mull it over.

This is a very confused post. On one hand, you're lamenting the fact that so much manufacturing has gone overseas and so few companies are coming back.... while on the other hand, you're supporting the overregulation that has caused manufacturing to flee the country. Everyone seems to want to have their cake and eat it too. If you want manufacturing in the U.S., you need to support true free market capitalism without government interference. Otherwise, you can continue to expect this country to import most of its goods from countries that impose less burdensome regulations. It's not rocket science.



No, the BWCAW is not private land, nor is it the site of the future mine. The mine IS located on private land, not on BWCAW land. It seems a lot of people are confused about this. I am sure most of you are not okay with the government telling you what you can and can't do on your own private land, but yet you're fine with the government doing just that, so long as it is NOT your land.

The Boundary Waters bring in over $1 billion in annual revenues and support roughly 17,000 jobs. All of that revenue comes from people visiting one of the last true wildnerness areas in the country. What about those jobs? That's more than the mine is proposing. And it don't run out when the copper runs dry.

How much of that is the mine going to take away

Just a couple of points as it seems some never bothered to read the article.
+This proposal has been going on for years. This is private land somewhat near the Boundary Waters. The BWCAW is only mentioned to invoke a response from the public. Mines already exist and operate in this same general area. There are several old mines within the BWCAW as well as railroad grades. After the Pagami fire they were quite obvious. The Environmental groups will give these mines a Colonoscopy over every drop of water that leaves the property.
++ The BWCAW is the most heavily used wilderness in the US and has been for many years. The impacts or man are everywhere there. The numbers of permits that are issued is restricted to LIMIT the resource damage done by the visitors and can never be eliminated.

AND..............how many second, third and fourth level jobs are created using the copper etc that those mines will produce ?

I would like the source of this information. I find it very hard to believe. The BW is a seasonal affair and seeing very, very few people in the Winter. The outfitter season is roughly Memorial Day through Labor Day. Ely and Grand Marais are the main hubs with Cook, Isabella and Tofte also contributing. The year around population of these 5 towns doesn't total 17,000 people. Lake and Cook county are two of the poorest counties in the state, mainly due to low tax base because the bulk of the land is held in public ownership.

There's things more important than money. We don't have to develop every wilderness area or cut down all old growth timber. Trappers and fisherman of all people should be for conserving the remaining wilderness. It doesn't take much pollution to change the ecosystem and ruin it for fish.

This type of mining is not like iron mining. It has never been done successfully without polluting the surrounding waters. Massive amounts of rock need to be crushed since it only contains about 1% copper. Exposed to air the sulfides from the crushed rock form sulfuric acid which leaches out heavy metals like mercury, lead arsenic etc. The BWCA supports many businesses and jobs that will always be there as long it's not destroyed. What you do on private land should not harm the surrounding land.

I know a bunch of the preliminary work has already been done on this mine, but you have to wonder how much they would want to invest moving forward when there is a good chance this decision is reversed by the next administration that caters to the losing side.
Same thing is happening with logging projects in the west or oil pipelines, companies don’t want to start ramping up only to be shut down in a few years.

Exactly right Tray.

The last auction for oil leases in ANWR had exactly ZERO bidders.

Prior to 1978 much of this was private land with resorts and businesses within it. After the USFS took control of it, the buildings were either torn down or burned in place. All of these sites were simply "hidden" from the public. They still exist today along with cars and trucks as well as one below ground "visible" gas pump and tanks as of the last time I was there about 5 years ago. The bulk of the BW that is seen is from the water and very little of the ground is actually seen by man.

If it could safely be done without polluting the surrounding water would that be acceptable?

Sure, as far as I'm concerned.

I really think we need to find middle ground between developing natural resources and protecting some natural wilderness and with today's knowledge we are better equipped to do both. No one wants to destroy it all but in recent time we have tended to lean to far towards none at all. Money isn't everything until we end up in a depression and or economy is severely hurt for generations, and we migh already be there. We have been spoiled in this nation because of our financial success but its not a given if we dont continue to grow and lately we've been shrinking.

I believe the trans-alaska pipeline is a good example of what can be done in a responsible manner