Around 1960 my grandfather Marv Johnson quit the Keewatin police force to work at the Erie taconite plant in Hoyt Lakes. He told me that his take-home salary doubled that day. It was the first time he felt confident he could provide for his growing family. There were downsides. For one, the job almost killed… Read More →
After gaining permits, PolyMet leaves some investors in the cold
May 26, 2019 by 14 Comments
It looked good on paper. A small Canadian company would mine copper, nickel and other valuable minerals in northern Minnesota. They vowed an innovative process to meet some of the most rigorous mining regulations in the world. Moreover, this company promised jobs for a rural region that needed them, a place that boasted a workforce… Read More →
World’s largest mining company moves on PolyMet
May 8, 2019 by 13 Comments
Today, global mining giant Glencore moves one big step closer to owning the proposed Northern Minnesota copper-nickel venture PolyMet. Glencore is the largest mining company in the world by revenue with properties on six continents. It is three times larger than the next largest mining company. It is 11 times larger than the world’s largest… Read More →
With final permit, PolyMet project enters ‘prove it’ stage
March 22, 2019 by 19 Comments
Today the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued the last required federal permit for PolyMet’s proposed copper-nickel mine near Hoyt Lakes, Minnesota. With this permit, the company now enters the next phase of its development: proving that it has the capital and ability to execute its mine plan. Local news and Northern Minnesota social media… Read More →
State issues mining permits to PolyMet: Now what?
November 1, 2018 by 3 Comments
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources issued permits for PolyMet Mining on Thursday, ending one long chapter of this story and beginning another. The permits mean PolyMet is now free to mine copper, nickel and other minerals from its proposed location near the former LTV iron mine at Hoyt Lakes. But doing so is not… Read More →
Science can solve mining risks, but only if we demand it
July 15, 2018 by 5 Comments
As a nerd who grew up on an Iron Range junkyard, I appreciate anything that combines groundbreaking science with homemade contraptions. That’s why I’m fascinated by a daisy chain of unobtrusive barrels floating in an old Erie Mining pit outside Babbitt, Minnesota. They may save our world. Jeff Hanson put them there. Hanson is an… Read More →
See all the trucks go by
June 17, 2018 by 3 Comments
Diesel fuel smells like home. It reminds me of the idling school bus and the pungent workshop at my family’s junkyard in 1986. Trucks leave deep treads on my memories. Big yellow mining trucks dot the landscape of the Mesabi Iron Range as they have for generations. I played with a Tonka Truck as a… Read More →
Summer 2018 brings color to Range communities
June 8, 2018 by Leave a Comment
I drive through Nashwauk, Minnesota, most days. It’s a nice little town, but a little worn down. That’s not unusual for the cities of the western Mesabi Iron Range. These boom towns bloomed in a white pine wilderness a century ago, each at the mouth of a specific iron mine. Now that mining is more… Read More →
A billion reasons why PolyMet debate misses the point
April 15, 2018 by 15 Comments
“Look here, now!” the North-Going Zax said, “I say! You are blocking my path. You are right in my way. I’m a North-Going Zax and I always go north. Get out of my way, now, and let me go forth!” “Who’s in whose way?” snapped the South-Going Zax. “I always go south, making south-going tracks…. Read More →
Make or break moment for Iron Range mining projects
November 21, 2017 by 4 Comments
I’m part of a tortured, high-strung group of people who receive regular e-mail and social media updates about the mining business. It’s part of my duty to better understand the industry that shapes Iron Range history and its current economy. And in recent months the news has been far less depressing than usual. For instance,… Read More →
