By Ernest Scheyder
Jan 21 (Reuters) – The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday voted to overturn former President Joe Biden’s mining ban in northern Minnesota, giving a boost to Antofagasta’s Twin Metals copper, cobalt and nickel project.
The measure now moves to the Senate for consideration and, if approved there, to President Donald Trump, who campaigned in 2024 on overturning Biden’s 20-year block on mining across 225,504 minerals-rich acres (91,200 hectares) in the Superior National Forest.
Reuters first reported earlier this month that Trump officials and legislators had launched a complex plan to reverse the ban using the novel claim that Biden had not properly informed Congress.
The Interior Department resubmitted the mining ban with the expectation that it would be rejected by Congress and Trump. Were that to occur, a future president could not replicate Biden’s ban because of a provision in the 1996 Congressional Review Act (CRA).
The House voted 214 to 208 to overturn the ban, which was included in a measure sponsored by Congressman Pete Stauber, a Republican who represents northern Minnesota.
Conservationists have rejected the claim that Congress was not properly informed about Biden’s move, noting it was detailed in federal publications and in letters to members of Congress.
If the ban is lifted, the Trump administration would then be free to reissue mining leases to Chile-focused Antofagasta, which has been trying to develop the mine for decades on land controlled by the federal government. The mine would need to undergo an environmental review and obtain permits.
“Reversing Biden’s mining ban will protect Northern Minnesota jobs, strengthen national security through domestic production and prevent future overreaches from happening again,” Stauber said.
Approval by the Senate likely hinges on whether Elizabeth MacDonough, the Senate Parliamentarian, agrees that the mining ban – known as a withdrawal – constitutes a rule under the provisions of the CRA and thus can pass with a simple majority rather than a 60-vote threshold.
Republicans hold 53 seats in the 100-person Senate, to Democrats’ 47 seats.
Antofagasta’s Twin Metals subsidiary said it was “very appreciative of Congress for their efforts to overturn an unnecessary and detrimental action that locked out a significant domestic source of critical minerals.”
Attempts to overturn the ban with the CRA have received strong pushback from conservationists, many of whom have called the plan “unprecedented.”
“The Senate must reject this attack and the precedent it sets to arbitrarily strike down well-established public lands protections,” said Jordan Schreiber of The Wilderness Society, a conservation group that has pushed to block development in the region for more than 50 years.
Antofagasta has said it likely will export the mine’s copper and other critical minerals for processing overseas.
Overturning the mining ban would also boost helium projects in the region.
(Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Jamie Freed)
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