Copyright Star Tribune
In his Nov. 2 column “Hungry tech sector will force tough choices over critical metals," Aaron Brown quotes Ernest Scheyder, the author of “The War Below: Lithium, Copper and the Global Battle to Power Our Lives,” who advises engaging with companies that dot the Minnesota landscape with proposals to mine critical minerals for better consensus for communities divided over mining.” Brown follows this advice and meets with Jessica Johnson, vice president of external affairs of Talon Metals in Tamarack. He is impressed with Talon‘s redesigned mine plan based on community feedback that included Indigenous voices. Brown thinks it is a good example of the public negotiating with a private company about critical minerals. Talon’s plan now includes “everything from trucks emerging from underground to the trains hauling the ore off [remaining] enclosed indoors. Waste rock would be redistributed back underground, greatly reducing environmental risk.” When a mining company says it is listening to the voices, it seems prudent to check with the “voices” to see if they are being listened to. Tamarack Water Alliance meets face to face with Talon Metals periodically. Our last meeting was in mid-September for 90 minutes. Talon “listened” — however, we might add that nothing in its redesigned mine plans proposed in the last two and a half years addressed any of the concerns we have raised. Instead, Talon’s plans seemed to be aimed at reducing its costs to improve its business case. Talon’s redesign is little more than moving the deck chairs. Mining is a dirty business. A great deal of dust is created managing rock and crushing it to form a gravel to be mixed with cement to backfill the stopes. Confining all this dust inside a building creates dangerous levels that must be mitigated in order to ensure safe breathing. This not only includes sulfide dust but asbestos too. Two mitigations can help. One is venting buildings, yet Talon plans no filters on the vents to remove sulfides or asbestos dust. The second includes spraying down rock piles to reduce dust emissions, yet Talon has no plans to line the floors or remove the water from the spraying. It will seep into the sandy soil and into aquifers, causing long-lasting environmental damage to the area and prime wild rice waters. This is a terrible tactic that does not address the environmental risks yet is marketed by Talon as innovative. Seriously? High sulfide mining is much different from taconite since the amount of sulfur will be many times greater than the mineral being mined. As this sulfur is released into the environment, the sulfates enable sulfate-reducing bacteria to create high levels of toxic methylmercury that bio-accumulate in fish, leading to fish consumption advisories. High sulfate levels also lead to the die-off of prime wild rice beds and acid mine drainage for hundreds of years, impossible to clean up. Why would a community want to negotiate with a company that refuses to address the serious concerns that affect the health and well-being of the community? Talon proposes to mine in a region near the headwaters of both the Mississippi and St. Croix/Kettle rivers and nearby St. Louis River; 1855 Treaty territory; Minnesota’s largest state park and Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge, and thousands of vacation cabins passed down in families for generations. Tamarack, Aitkin County and nearby Carlton County are not mining communities. Residents don’t want their scenic lakes, rural farmland, prime wild rice waters, game fish, wildlife and forests ravaged and carved up by toxic sulfide mining whose damage will last in perpetuity.
