PolyMet officials have high hopes for new type of mining

The Iron Range supplied the steel that fought two World Wars. Now the PolyMet...

The Iron Range supplied the steel that fought two World Wars. Now the PolyMet Mining Company, based in Canada, is hoping that the adjacent Duluth Metals Complex will create a sustainable, long-term United States source for copper, nickel and other precious metals, which are currently almost exclusively imported from overseas. Joe Scipioni, president and CEO of PolyMet, is an Iron Range boy. Born in Bovey, he is a third-generation miner, with a civil engineering degree from the University of Minnesota, and a work history at mines across the Iron Range, mostly at Minntac. PolyMet currently holds the lease to mine a significant portion of the Duluth Metals Complex, which has been rated as one of the richest sulfide metal sources of copper, nickel and other precious metals in the world. PolyMet is hoping to use the old LTV facility in Hoyt Lakes for processing the ores, which will be surface-mined. He told an audience of about 22 at the Embarrass Town Hall, May 19, about the status of the project, and answered many questions with help from LaTisha Gietzen, Polymet’s vice-president of public and envionmental affairs, and another Iron Range native with strong mining ties. Scipione compared this project to the first taconite mine on the Iron Range. “This deposit is still being explored and we haven’t found it all,” he said. The Duluth Metals Complex lies adjacent to the taconite deposits of the Iron Range, though they were formed by volcanic action, not by sedimentation like the iron taconite deposits. Several other mining companies are also investigating the economics of mining other parts of the Duluth Complex, but the PolyMet project is the only one that has started the permitting process. PolyMet has spent about $20 million on the permitting process so far, which includes preparation of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). While the metals concentration of the Duluth Metals Complex is only about one percent, its total mass, along with its easy accessibility, make it economically-viable to mine, according to Scipioni. The fact that the deposit includes multiple metals also is an advantage, he said, because the project isn’t dependent on a single metal’s market price. PolyMet will also be using the existing infrastructure from the shuttered LTV plant, including the crushers, concentrators, shops, tailing basin and electrical and water systems. Locating the mine on an existing mining site lessens the environmental impact as well as providing a huge head start for the project. “It would take us three years to recreate this infrastructure,” he said. “You don’t usually get this lucky to have a new ore body right next to all this infrastructure.” The mine will use a series of large tanks to concentrate and separate out the sulfide metals. This “flotation process” will bring the ore up to a 20 percent concentration. The concentrated metal sulfide is then put through an autoclave, where heat and high pressure separates the metals from the sulfide molecule. The sulfides are then combined with limestone to create synthetic gypsum. The gypsum will be landfilled, or perhaps sold and used for construction. The concentrated metals are then extracted from the water solution. Environmental affairs vice-president LaTisha Gietzen passed around samples of the extracted metals: a flat copper plate and vials with nickel-cobalt and platinum concentrate. The PolyMet mine would be the first nickel mine in the United States and is expected to produce 36,000 tons of copper, 7,700 tons of nickel, 360 tons of cobalt and 106,000 ounces of platinum, palladium and gold each year of operation. The mine is expected to operate for at least 20 years. Scipione said PolyMet is only planning on mining a small fraction of the ore during that time period. The PolyMet mine is expected to cost $602 million and will take 1.5 million construction man hours, the equivalent of 250 workers, year-round for three years. The mine is expected to create 400 high-quality jobs and over 500 spin-off jobs, with a $242 million impact on the economy of St. Louis County. PolyMet expects to complete the EIS in the third quarter of this year. There will be public hearings scheduled for both the draft and the final EIS. Questions from the audience centered on two issues: job creation and environmental impacts. “Why are environmentalists against this?” asked Leonard Stefanich. “If 20 years from now people start dying, I don’t want it.” Scipioni said the technology being proposed for the site is not new, just a refined version of a type of mining that has been used successfully for many years. He said the flotation process is far superior to the smelting process used to produce most of the world’s metals. “I’ve been to Russia and China and have seen what is happening,” Scipioni said.“We have the chance to do it right in a brown-field zone. Let’s have the jobs here and protect the environment.” David Smith asked if the mining process would concentrate any dangerous or toxic metals. “The answer is no,” he said. Scipione said there weren’t any stray metals in the complex. “Only certain metals bond with sulfide,” he said. He noted that cadmium is not present in any appreciable amount. The existing tailings basin, which is very close to Embarrass, will be strengthened. “We are going above and beyond what is required,” said Gietzen. Gene Wright asked about water leaking from the existing dikes. Gietzen said the water is being extensively monitored and once the mine is operating, any seepage will be collected. “Our monitoring shows we can meet drinking water standards,” she said. Scipione noted that building a safe tailings basin is a “known science.” Another audience member asked if PolyMet had looked into using alternative energy, such as wind power, to run the plant. Scipioni said that the plant’s location makes sense for wind power, but he noted that wind turbines are very expensive. Paul Knuti wondered where PolyMet expected to find 400 employees. If the EIS process moves forward as expected, PolyMet hopes to being construction at the site in the third quarter of 2010. Scipioni said they didn’t think that would be a problem. “Lots of folks want to come back to work in the area,” he said. “I have five kids and four had moved away. One is moving back.”