Editing Ely, Minnesota (section)

====Copper mining controversy====
{{Main|Twin Metals mine (Ely, MN)}}

Since the 1960s, as Iron Range mines began closing, leaving only a few in operation, Ely, like many northern Minnesota communities, faced economic decline. Duluth, on the shores of Lake Superior, has built a tourist trade that has helped to sustain its economy. Ely, seen as the gateway to the [[Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness]], has also developed a lively tourist trade, but due to environmental concerns the area has recently seen controversy about a proposal to build a mining operation for copper just outside the BWCAW. The company involved, Twin Metals Minnesota, is operated by a Chilean company, [[Antofagasta PLC]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Conflicted Over Copper: PolyMet copper-nickel mine has been trapped in litigation |url=https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/06/polymet-copper-nickel-mine-litigation-indigenous-environmental-groups/ |website=Great Lakes Now |date=June 12, 2020 |access-date=September 2, 2020}}</ref> It says it plans "to build modern mines that must go through a rigorous regulatory process before they can move forward", but environmentalists are concerned that runoff from the mining operation could damage the BWCA wilderness area. The copper deposits beneath the forests and lakes of northeastern Minnesota are encased in [[sulfide]] ore and when that is exposed it produces [[sulfuric acid]], which has resulted in severe water pollution in copper mines in several western U.S. areas.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kraker |first1=Dan |title=Bill to ban copper-nickel mining draws sharp contrast between Boundary Waters, Iron Range |url=https://www.mprnews.org/story/2020/02/06/bill-to-ban-coppernickel-mining-draws-sharp-contrast-between-boundary-waters-iron-range |website=MPR News |access-date=September 3, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Hemphill|first1=Stephanie|title=At the edge of the Boundary Waters, miners probe for copper, nickel|url=https://www.mprnews.org/story/2010/06/23/boundary-waters-mining|website=Minnesota Public Radio|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626035114/https://www.mprnews.org/story/2010/06/23/boundary-waters-mining|archive-date=June 26, 2019}} June 23, 2010.</ref>

{{Update|section|date=May 2025}}
In October 2021, the [[Environmental policy of the Joe Biden administration|Biden administration]] filed an application for a "mineral withdrawal" that will put a hold on the development of the mine proposal while the environmental impacts are studied. The Obama administration had launched a similar study, but 24 weeks into the 28-week study the newly elected Trump administration ended it, allowing the plans for the mining operation to continue. The completed study could lead to a 20-year ban on mining upstream from the BWCAW.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Karnowski |first1=Steve |title=Biden Administration Delivers Serious Blow to Minnesota Mine |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/minnesota/articles/2021-10-20/biden-administration-delivers-serious-blow-to-minnesota-mine |website=U.S.News |access-date=November 21, 2021}}</ref> The Trump mineral leases were judged illegal, and in January 2022 the Biden administration canceled two Twin Metals mineral leases. The ''Timberjay'' called the Biden administration's decision a "potentially fatal blow to [a] proposed copper-nickel mine."<ref>{{cite web |title=Biden administration cancels Twin Metals mineral leases |url=https://www.timberjay.com/stories/biden-administration-cancels-twin-metals-mineral-leases,18593 |website=Timberjay |access-date=February 1, 2022}}</ref>