Otsego, M.N.— Today, Congressman Tom Emmer (MN-06) issued the following statement on the Department of Interior’s decision to cancel Twin Metals Minnesota’s long-held federal leases to mine in Minnesota’s Iron Range, which contains an estimated 8 billion tons of critical minerals.

Emmer said “Today’s decision is another disappointing attack from an administration committed to killing American independence on key resources. Mining has been a Minnesota way of life for generations. We must not allow it to become the latest casualty in the Biden Administration’s politically-driven crusade.”

Background:

In 2013, Twin Metals obtained leases to mine underground copper, nickel, cobalt, and platinum group metals in Minnesota’s Superior National Forest. The project would bring more than 750 full-time jobs and 1,500 related jobs to the region. 

The project would provide a domestic source for critical mineral resources, key to the production of airplanes, cell phones, and other items indispensable to America’s military, national infrastructure, and economy. The United States imports more than half of 31 out of 35 of critical minerals from countries like China.

In the final days of the Obama Administration, the Department of the Interior rejected a renewal of Twin Metals Minnesota’s mining leases. The leases were then reinstated in 2019 by the Trump Administration.

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