The three-judge panel said there was 'no basis for disturbing' the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's 2021 decision awarding a permit for what would be the state's first copper-nickel mine
In a non-binding opinion, an administrative law judge said adding bentonite clay to the mine-waste slurry and lining the tailings basin with bentonite was impractical and would not meet state law.
Pending final approvals, the Swiss mining giant will buy all remaining shares in the company, which hopes to open the state's first copper-nickel mine, and take it private.
As a sociological research project, Erik Kojola spent four years talking with people on both sides of the copper-nickel mining debate for "Mining the Heartland."