SMM5, 16 Feb: the US Department of the Interior on Wednesday renewed two leases near the wilderness in the Minnesota border waters, a key step in opening the area to the copper mining industry, foreign media reported.

The (Bureau of Land Management) of the United States Land Administration has leased the right to exploit heavy metal minerals in the senior national forest to Twin Metals Minnesota LLC, a subsidiary of Antofagasta, in order to promote the exploitation of key minerals in the country. In this way, imports can be reduced to protect national security and the economy, and jobs can be created.

Twin Metals hopes to build an underground mine near the wilderness in Minnesota's border waters.

The Trump administration, which has been trying to reverse the Obama administration's previous refusal to allow mining companies to build new mining projects near the wilderness, is now at its last step.

The USDA lease renewal clears the way for Twin Metals to submit a formal mining plan to state and federal officials. But the application will trigger years of environmental review and approval by Minnesota and the federal government.

Twin Metals said in a statement that it would submit the plan "in the coming months" and said it had so far spent $450 million on the development of the project.

But environmental groups have expressed strong dissatisfaction, saying the government did not conduct enough environmental review before approving the project.

Because copper and nickel mining is different from iron ore mining in Minnesota, it can cause heavy metals to seep into groundwater and nearby waters.

The Canadian government also said it was concerned about possible water quality and ecological damage because the region is located in waters shared by the United States and Canada.

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