PolyMet Mining, which is pursuing an exciting 100%-owned copper-nickel-precious metal deposit up in northern Minnesota’s rich Duluth Complex (just off the end of one of the largest undeveloped non-ferrous deposits on earth), reported some big improvements for the NorthMet project today, as well as considerable progress on the environmental review for the project.
The Mesabi district is an extremely well-established mining district, and PLM takes its environmental stewardship responsibilities very seriously. By strictly adhering to a very conservative environmental policy, PLM has established a track record of success in dealing with all the relevant environmental agencies like the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MDNR), US Forest Service (USFS), and US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). As the agencies responsible for producing a detailed overview of the project and its environmental impact metrics (supplemental draft Environmental Impact Statement), which in turn drives permitting and approvals for various aspects of development, cultivation by PLM of such a sound relationship makes immense bottom-line sense.
President and CEO of PLM, Jon Cherry, was very proud of the reductions to overall environmental impact contained within the latest design improvements for the NorthMet project and underscored the significance of such reductions in helping to accelerate the supplemental draft EIS process. The company has taken up a rigorous vetting of all extant draft EIS commentary and gone through the entire logistical apparatus of the project looking for ways to cut the fat. The arrived-at battery of key improvements add heartily to those previously detailed in their amended and restated technical report (NI 43-101 filed on www.Sedar.com), and the improvements are fully integrated with air dispersion and ground/surface water environmental impact modeling parameters.
Management of groundwater will be key among the three improvements outlined in today’s reportage, as the company will look to capture seepage from both ground and surface sources by constructing an ingenious in-ground containment system north and also west of the tailings basin. Furthermore, contact water discharge will be run through water treatment facilities that use reverse osmosis and which are based on the successfully executed pilot plant (reported Oct 11, 2012) that has processed 1.5M gallons to date.
Water discharge will be fully in-line with all applicable state/federal guidelines and special care has been taken to ensure compliance with Minnesota’s wild rice standard for sulfate in particular. Similarly, reductions in sulfur dioxide, mercury, and greenhouse gasses are on the docket.
Cherry pegged supplemental draft EIS completion as “mid-summer 2013″ and assured investors that the company was knee-deep in extensive capital and operating cost analysis in order to update the overall profile due to these new revisions/changes. Cherry further explained that PLM is taking a hard second-look at construction plans and schedules as well, so that the company can be ready to roll construction-wise once permitting is in hand.
This is a great little company and the deposit has huge upside potential. More importantly the Duluth Complex itself is a truly exciting domestic resource frontier and with open-pittable mineralization stretching some 2.5 miles under just a thin layer of glacial tilt, the NorthMet looks to be a real bonanza. Especially when it comes to strategically important metals like cobalt, for which the primary U.S. supply is staggeringly 100% dependent on foreign imports. We manage to recycle 15% of our cobalt requirements from domestic scrap, but this is still a profound gap in a resource that is critical to many industries.
This deposit has loads of copper, platinum, palladium, and even the yellow metal we all love so much, gold. We import over 40% of our copper requirement these days, and when it comes to key PGMs like platinum and palladium, the percentage is as high as 95%. There are more reasons on the table here than just the exceptional economics of open-pittable deposits like this one in the Duluth Complex and companies like PLM are digging for the rich resources we have become tragically used to importing, right out of our own back yard now. It is an exciting time in the resource sector and you can expect to hear big things out of northern Minnesota in coming months/years.
For more information on PolyMet Mining, visit www.PolyMetMining.com
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