This case was filed in 2018 against the DNR by the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy and Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness
Image: PolyMet is the first company to be fully permitted to mine copper, nickel and precious metals from the Duluth Complex. Photo: Courtesy of stux/Pixabay.
Poly Met Mining, a wholly-owned subsidiary of PolyMet Mining, announces that the Minnesota State Court of Appeals today affirmed the validity of the state’s nonferrous mining rules, rejecting a challenge from environmental groups who sought to overturn the rules after the state issued PolyMet’s Permit to Mine.
In its unanimous decision, the three-judge panel recounted the history of the Department of Natural Resources’ nonferrous mining rules, emphasizing the decade of “study and rulemaking proceedings” that led to their adoption. The court agreed with the DNR that “flexible reclamation rules are necessary to accommodate the variety of conditions at proposed mine sites” and endorsed the DNR’s authority to establish reclamation standards and “deny a permit . . . if reclamation standards cannot be met.”
This case was filed in 2018 against the DNR by the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy and Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness. PolyMet intervened as a co-respondent to defend the rules.
“We are pleased that the Court of Appeals ruled in our favor,” said Jon Cherry, president and CEO. “Minnesota’s standards for nonferrous mining are among the strictest anywhere in the world, and we demonstrated through the extensive environmental review and permitting process that we can meet or exceed these standards.”
PolyMet is the first company to be fully permitted to mine copper, nickel and precious metals from the world-class Duluth Complex under the state’s nonferrous rules.
Source: Company Press Release.