Letter to the Editor
The April 27 letter from Roger Anderson headlined “Produce metals here OR in third-world country?” should have been titled “Produce metals here AND in third-world country?” Mining promoters have never identified an economic mechanism that will shut down a dirty third-world mine if we destroy our wetlands to open up a sulfide mine in the Superior National Forest.By: Bob Tammen, Lake County News Chronicle
The April 27 letter from Roger Anderson headlined “Produce metals here OR in third-world country?” should have been titled “Produce metals here AND in third-world country?” Mining promoters have never identified an economic mechanism that will shut down a dirty third-world mine if we destroy our wetlands to open up a sulfide mine in the Superior National Forest.
Modern commodities markets are no more honest than modern financial markets. Throwing our copper on the global market will just create a competitive reason for dirty third-world mines to get dirtier. Excess copper will end up in Chinese warehouses to make their balance of payments look better. Google “copper market manipulation” or “chinese warehouse copper” to verify my explanation.
The claim that “little or no sulfur is found in the country rock” is just plain false. PolyMet’s own Draft Environmental Impact Statement admits that all waste rock is reactive. The Northern Miner, a pro-mining newspaper, reported that sulfur in waste rock was as high as 6 percent at NorthMet.
The ratio of sulfur to copper is the same at PolyMet as at the Flambeau mine at Ladysmith, Wis. To produce a ton of pure copper at PolyMet, they will have to process the same amount of sulfur as to produce a ton of copper from Ladysmith. There is no free lunch.
It’s a little comical that cheerleaders for the mining industry are proposing to mine sulfides but they don’t want to call it sulfide mining. Euphemisms can’t change reality. Sulfides and wetlands are a destructive combination. The fact that ordinary citizens will repeat spin from the mining industry is good evidence that the state of Minnesota is not ready to regulate sulfide mining.
The mining industry still has the sense of entitlement that led Reserve Mining Company to believe it could dump its tailings into Lake Superior.
As a former miner and a Lake County property owner, I object to any permits that will allow the global mining industry to open up a sulfide ore body in Minnesota. Mining corporations with their scavenger culture shouldn’t be allowed into our wetlands.
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