What’s Up with Mining and the Boundary Waters?

“They’re selling off the boundary waters for mining!”

Ah, the Boundary Waters. The BWCA in Minnesota is one of the most pristine wilderness areas of it’s kind – with ~a million acres of land for exploring that has been untouched by the modern life. No cell service, no roads, no electricity. Just pure, unadulterated Minnesota rivers and forests.

When I heard that they were going to start mining in the Boundary Waters, I was outraged. How DARE they cut out a chunk of the boreal forest to mine? Haven’t we done enough mining on the Iron Range?

After looking into the issue a bit, I saw that the issue is being misrepresented a bit by the public at large. The mining is still a huge issue and needs to be stopped, but I think it’s important to know the facts and why they’re still important.

What are those facts? I’m so glad you asked!

The Facts that Face the BWCA

Twin Metals, a subsidiary of the Chilean mining organization Antofagasta, has been lobbying for a long time to start mining the rich copper and nickel deposits near Ely.

The fact is, the mining they propose is not in the Boundary Waters. It’s near the Boundary Waters.

So, big deal right? Why do we need to care about mining near, but not in?

The issue is the runoff and by-products of the mining operation leaking into and toxifying the watershed. The U.S. Forestry Service conducted an Environmental Assessment that examined the impact of allowing mining in the proposed area, and found that it would likely result in:

• Contaminated wild rice harvests
• Damage to cultural and historical sites
• Damage to the health of aquatic species due to physical and chemical changes in the watershed
• Damage to the populations of land-dwelling flora and fauna due to watershed changes
• Soil contamination due to acid drainage and metal bearing water leaching
• Light pollution

And more. Overall, the assessment finds that allowing mining would very much detrimentally impact the wilderness as whole.

Where Would the Resources Go?

Should we allow mining to take place, where would the copper and nickel taken from our soil go?

China. It’s going to China. From a Field and Stream article:
“According to Ledger Fernandez, the most likely destination for raw copper ore mined from the Rainy River Watershed is China. That’s where Antofagasta does its current smelting, and the United States lacks the proper processing facilities to handle the ore. “If they [make] one little mistake, it’s going to harm this precious resource of water,” said Ledger Fernandez. “This is a resource that belongs to the American people, and where it’s going to end up, is on a boat in China.”

The mining operation would open up high paying jobs to the area, but immediately ship the resources across the Ocean and out of our hands.

I don’t like it.

Ways to Get Involved

If you’re worried about this problem, great! You should be! This is something that is actively being decided on, so there’s still a chance to get involved and help shape the future of the BWCA.

Check out the suggestions from Save the Boundary Waters here and call your local representatives! Underlined links will take you where you need to go.

Conclusion

To conclude, the fact that mining is to take place in the boundary water is misleading. However, the mining that would take place is near enough to the BWCA to have a serious environmental impact. Get out there and help save the trees, man!