The US Senate narrowly voted on Thursday to overturn a ban on mining near Minnesota’s Boundary Waters canoe area wilderness, an enormous complex of interconnected lakes, rivers and forests that is among the most visited wild areas in the US.
The resolution passed 50-49 to repeal a 20-year moratorium imposed by Joe Biden’s administration in 2023 on mining across the 225,000 acres (91,000 hectares) in the Superior national forest.
The House had already approved the measure, and it will now head to Donald Trump, who is expected to sign it.
The vote marks a victory for Twin Metals Minnesota, a subsidiary of the Chilean mining giant Antofagasta PLC, which is seeking to build a copper and nickel mine a few miles from the Boundary Waters. For years, environmental and conservation groups have opposed mining in the area, warning that it could contaminate and pollute the Boundary Waters.
Before the Senate vote on Thursday, Tina Smith, a Democratic senator for Minnesota, spoke against the resolution, arguing that it would “greenlight exposure of this national treasure to the highly toxic and destructive impacts of sulfide or copper mining”.
She also argued that the measure was “the opposite of ‘America first’”, adding that “the mining company in question is foreign-owned, will use Chinese state-owned smelters, and will then sell the extracted metals on the open market”.
Two Republicans, senators Susan Collins of Maine and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, joined Democrats to vote against the measure. Josh Hawley, a Republican Missouri senator, did not vote, according to the Hill.
In a statement after the vote, Smith told her supporters: “Do not lose hope. This fight is not over. We should all be so proud of the coalition we built to fight this.”
In a statement, Kathy Graul, a spokesperson for Twin Metals Minnesota, described Thursday’s vote as a “critical moment for our nation’s ability to strengthen our mineral supply chains”, adding that Twins Metals Minnesota is “one of several companies focused on responsibly developing the minerals in the Duluth Complex, which is the world’s largest known undeveloped copper, nickel, cobalt and platinum group metals deposit.
“Any proposed project in this region, including Twin Metals, must undergo a years long, multi-agency regulatory review before earning permits to begin construction of a mine,” she said, adding that lifting the moratorium “restores this process, and projects must prove they can meet the stringent environmental standards that have long been in place in Minnesota before moving forward”.
Environmental advocates strongly condemned the Senate’s vote on Thursday.
Ingrid Lyons, the executive director of Save the Boundary Waters, a conservation group, called it a “dark day for America’s most beloved wilderness area, the Boundary Waters canoe area wilderness, and a stark warning call for public lands nationwide”.
“Minnesotans and the American public writ large have been loud and clear: this iconic place needs to be protected,” she said. “Today, by the very people who claim to represent them, they were ignored and, even worse, silenced. But of course, it’s not over, and we will always keep fighting.”
According to the New York Times, while the Senate vote this week increases the chances that Twin Metals Minnesota will build the mine, the project still faces other obstacles, such as expected legal battles, and it must still secure federal leases and state permits.
