[House Hearing, 118 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                       EXAMINING THE MINERAL WEALTH 
                           OF NORTHERN MINNESOTA

=======================================================================

                        OVERSIGHT FIELD HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

                       SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND
                           MINERAL RESOURCES

                                 OF THE

                     COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
                     U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                    ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS

                             FIRST SESSION

                               __________

           Tuesday, May 2, 2023, in Mountain Iron, Minnesota

                               __________

                           Serial No. 118-21

                               __________

       Printed for the use of the Committee on Natural Resources
       
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        Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov
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                               __________

                                
                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE                    
52-263 PDF                  WASHINGTON : 2023                    
          
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                     COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES

                     BRUCE WESTERMAN, AR, Chairman
                    DOUG LAMBORN, CO, Vice Chairman
                  RAUL M. GRIJALVA, AZ, Ranking Member

Doug Lamborn, CO			Grace F. Napolitano, CA
Robert J. Wittman, VA			Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan, 	
Tom McClintock, CA			    CNMI
Paul Gosar, AZ				Jared Huffman, CA
Garret Graves, LA			Ruben Gallego, AZ
Aumua Amata C. Radewagen, AS		Joe Neguse, CO
Doug LaMalfa, CA			Mike Levin, CA
Daniel Webster, FL			Katie Porter, CA
Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon, PR		Teresa Leger Fernandez, NM
Russ Fulcher, ID			Melanie A. Stansbury, NM
Pete Stauber, MN			Mary Sattler Peltola, AK
John R. Curtis, UT			Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, NY
Tom Tiffany, WI				Kevin Mullin, CA
Jerry Carl, AL				Val T. Hoyle, OR
Matt Rosendale, MT			Sydney Kamlager-Dove, CA
Lauren Boebert, CO			Seth Magaziner, RI
Cliff Bentz, OR				Nydia M. Velazquez, NY
Jen Kiggans, VA				Ed Case, HI
Jim Moylan, GU				Debbie Dingell, MI
Wesley P. Hunt, TX			Susie Lee, NV
Mike Collins, GA
Anna Paulina Luna, FL
John Duarte, CA
Harriet M. Hageman, WY

                    Vivian Moeglein, Staff Director
                      Tom Connally, Chief Counsel
                 Lora Snyder, Democratic Staff Director
                   http://naturalresources.house.gov
                                 ------                                

              SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES

                       PETE STAUBER, MN, Chairman
                     WESLEY P. HUNT, TX, Vice Chair
              ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ, NY, Ranking Member

Doug Lamborn, CO                     Jared Huffman, CA
Robert J. Wittman, VA                Kevin Mullin, CA
Paul Gosar, AZ                       Sydney Kamlager-Dove, CA
Garret Graves, LA                    Seth Magaziner, RI
Daniel Webster, FL                   Nydia M. Velazquez, NY
Russ Fulcher, ID                     Debbie Dingell, MI
John R. Curtis, UT                   Raul M. Grijalva, AZ
Tom Tiffany, WI                      Grace F. Napolitano, CA
Matt Rosendale, MT                   Susie Lee, NV
Lauren Boebert, CO                   Vacancy
Wesley P. Hunt, TX                   Vacancy
Mike Collins, GA
John Duarte, CA
Bruce Westerman, AR, ex officio

                              ----------
                              
                               CONTENTS

                              ----------                              
                                                                   Page

Hearing held on Tuesday, May 2, 2023.............................     1

Statement of Members:

    Stauber, Hon. Pete, a Representative in Congress from the 
      State of Minnesota.........................................     2

Statement of Witnesses:

    Johnson, Jessica, Community Outreach and Government Relations 
      Manager, Talon Metals Corp, Tamarack, Minnesota............     4
        Prepared statement of....................................     5

    Peterson, Dean, Chief Geologist, Big Rock Exploration, 
      Minneapolis, Minnesota.....................................     6
        Prepared statement of....................................     8

    Baltich, Joe, Owner, Northwind Lodge, Ely, Minnesota.........    14
        Prepared statement of....................................    16
    
 
                   OVERSIGHT HEARING ON EXAMINING THE
                  MINERAL WEALTH OF NORTHERN MINNESOTA

                              ----------                              


                          Tuesday, May 2, 2023

                     U.S. House of Representatives

              Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources

                     Committee on Natural Resources

                        Mountain Iron, Minnesota

                              ----------                              

    The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 1:29 p.m., in 
Mountain Iron-Buhl Public School Auditorium, 8659 Unity Drive, 
Mountain Iron, MN 55768, Hon. Pete Stauber [Chairman of the 
Subcommittee] presiding.

    Present: Representatives Stauber, Wittman, Tiffany, and 
Collins.
    Also present: Representatives Bucshon, and Bergman.

    Mr. Stauber. The Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral 
Resources will come to order. We will begin this hearing with a 
prayer.
    Pastor Hikson. Please stand. Father God, we are grateful 
and thankful for this opportunity to be together this 
afternoon. Thank you for sunshine today. Thank you that these 
Congressmen from all over our country can be here in this room 
to hear and learn of concerns that folks in our region have, 
and we pray that you would provide great wisdom and 
understanding as they listen and as we learn together.
    We recognize that in our nation right now there are a lot 
of opinions, a lot of different ideas. We pray that we would be 
working together again for the common good. Thank you for this 
time, and we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
    Mr. Stauber. Now the presentation of the colors.
    Now we will be led in the Pledge of Allegiance.
    Mr. Nelson. I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United 
States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one 
Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for 
all.
    Mr. Stauber. And now the singing of our National Anthem.
    Ms. Buffetta. [National Anthem sang.]
    Mr. Stauber. Without objection, the Chair is authorized to 
declare a recess of the Subcommittee at any time.
    Under Committee Rule 4(f), any oral opening statements at 
hearings are limited to the Chairman and the Ranking Member.
    I ask unanimous consent that the gentleman from Indiana, 
Mr. Bucshon, and the gentleman from Michigan, Mr. Bergman, be 
allowed to participate in today's hearing.
    I now recognize myself for an opening statement.

    STATEMENT OF THE HON. PETE STAUBER, A REPRESENTATIVE IN 
              CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF MINNESOTA

    Mr. Stauber. First and foremost, to the Mountain Iron-Buhl 
High School, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for 
allowing us to hold this field hearing right here in the heart 
of mining country.
    Mountain Iron-Buhl students, I am excited to see so many of 
you here. As your Congressman, I am pleased to bring the Energy 
and Mineral Resources Subcommittee to your auditorium. And I 
also want to congratulate the Section 7A girls basketball 
championship team right here from Mountain Iron-Buhl and the 
nine-man football team that are now state champions. 
Congratulations.
    We are bringing Members of Congress here to see what you 
all see everyday, to hear your desires, receive your input, and 
therefore make better laws and policies when we are in the 
halls of Congress back in Washington. This is an official House 
Committee on Natural Resources event. Instead of the Longworth 
Office Building in Washington, DC, we are holding it right here 
in Mountain Iron.
    To my colleagues, staff, and everyone else that traveled 
here to participate, welcome. As you have seen and heard, we 
are proud of our mining heritage and culture up here. Our vast 
mineral wealth is one of America's assets. While providing an 
unparalleled local economic engine, we work, live, and play 
here, and we have massive amounts of minerals, and we will 
continue to mine for generations to come.
    And that is why these field hearings are so important. 
Words can only paint so many pictures, and I appreciate my 
colleagues coming up and visiting the Iron Range and learning 
more about our vast history.
    In the House Republican Majority, the Natural Resources 
Committee is making it a priority to travel throughout the 
country to where our constituents, families, and neighbors 
live. This field hearing is one of many reasons I sought to be 
Chairman of the Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee. 
Since my first days in Congress, I sought to elevate the issues 
of our natural resources-based economy here in Minnesota faces, 
putting our communities on par with other communities across 
this great nation.
    About 140 years ago, we sent the first shipment of iron to 
the steelmaking facilities around the Great Lakes. Since then, 
our iron provided the raw feedstock that helped win two world 
wars and built America. Today, taconite, the ore that we mine, 
fuels 80 percent of America's steelmaking.
    Driving through the Iron Range is a reminder of how the 
mining industry has grown and innovated to become the modern, 
clean, and forward-thinking community we have today. Our 
reclaimed mines dot the landscape where we see wildlife 
flourish, access drinking water, and where we recreate.
    Now, northern Minnesota has an opportunity to supplement 
our great iron mining heritage with the non-ferrous metals we 
need, not only for applications like energy technology, but for 
iPads, our cell phones, healthcare, defense applications, and 
much, much more.
    Occurring alongside the legendary Iron Range are the 
greatest untapped mineral deposits in the world. The Duluth 
Complex and the Tamarack Complex combine for 95 percent of 
America's nickel, almost 90 percent of our cobalt, 75 percent 
of our platinum brute metals, and more than one-third of our 
copper. And, again, this is only the supplement to our massive 
remaining iron reserves. But sadly, we are not currently mining 
any of these precious metals due to onerous permitting regimes, 
bad decisions made by activist administrations, and of course, 
endless litigation.
    For example, the New Range Copper Nickel project is on year 
20 of permitting and litigation despite winning lawsuit after 
lawsuit over the years. The Twin Metals Project, situated on 
Federal land in our working Superior National Forest, had its 
long-standing mining leases pulled and a massive ban on 
taconite, copper, nickel, cobalt, and other platinum brute 
metals. So, let us be clear, this is a mining ban on critical 
minerals, to include copper, taconite, and more.
    The Interior Secretary, Secretary Haaland, under oath in 
front of this very Committee and one other, stated that she did 
not know critical minerals were present when she banned mining 
despite her very own agency publishing the list of critical 
minerals every year. Therefore, I introduced a resolution one 
week ago that would use our congressional authority to 
disapprove of this mining ban and give the Twin Metals Project 
a fair opportunity. The mining opportunities throughout 
northern Minnesota are limitless.
    Talon Metals in the small town of Tamarack, about 90 miles 
south of here, is poised to offer a Mine Plan of Operations. 
Talon operates on private, state, and county land while 
continuing to discover world-class mineral reserves. The 
company has already signed an off-take agreement with Tesla 
contingent upon permitting and has made a strong commitment to 
our community.
    And I should add, I am disappointed that my colleagues on 
the other side of the aisle did not show up today. They were 
all invited to this Committee hearing today on mining. Some of 
my colleagues on the other side of the aisle say the right 
things at the right times in public and during election years, 
but when it comes time to vote, when the rubber hits the road, 
they do not show up to advance our mining, not only in northern 
Minnesota but across this great nation.
    So, I once again thank our witnesses from Minnesota's 8th 
for sharing their experiences; and my colleagues from Georgia, 
Indiana, Michigan, Virginia, and Wisconsin for joining me; and 
once again, to the Mountain Iron-Buhl school system for 
welcoming us.
    Now for witness introductions, Jessica Johnson of Tamarack, 
Minnesota, serves as a community outreach and government 
relations manager for Talon Metals; Dean Peterson of Duluth, 
Minnesota, is the chief geologist for Big Rock Exploration; Joe 
Baltich of Ely, Minnesota, is the owner of Northwind Lodge, an 
artist, and a bus driver for Ely Public Schools.
    I want to now recognize Ms. Johnson for her opening 
statement.

STATEMENT OF JESSICA JOHNSON, COMMUNITY OUTREACH AND GOVERNMENT 
   RELATIONS MANAGER, TALON METALS CORP, TAMARACK, MINNESOTA

    Ms. Johnson. Thank you, Chairman Stauber and members of the 
Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources, for inviting me 
here today. I am here today representing Talon Metals as the 
community outreach and government relations manager. Talon 
Metals is a mineral exploration and development company 
focusing on sourcing nickel and other critical minerals from 
the Tamarack Nickel Project here in Minnesota that will 
contribute the raw materials needed for building out our 
nation's domestic supply chains.
    I am also speaking to you today as a life-long resident of 
rural Minnesota, where I have a passion for living the small-
town life, farming, camping, making maple syrup, and enjoying 
the lake.
    The Tamarack Nickel Project located in Aitkin County is one 
of the few high-grade nickel projects discovered globally in 
the 21st century and is currently the only development-stage, 
high-grade nickel project in the United States. Talon has 
entered into an agreement with Tesla to supply 75,000 metric 
tons, or 165 million pounds, of nickel in concentrate from the 
Tamarack Nickel Project once commercial production is achieved.
    Currently, the United States has one operating high-grade 
nickel mine, and due to our current supply chain, 100 percent 
of that nickel is exported for processing and refining. With 
the Talon and Tesla partnership model, we are looking to 
recreate the supply chain and go from raw material to battery 
here in the United States.
    Our team has been working to collect data on the Tamarack 
nickel deposit and surrounding environment in order to design a 
modern underground mine that meets environmental standards. As 
part of our company's tribal engagement statement, we are also 
committed to gathering input and seeking meaningful 
consultation with tribal governments.
    We recognize that underground mining involves disturbance 
of the Earth and that communities and tribal governments have 
concerns about the potential for negative impacts on the 
environment. We intend to submit a plan for the regulatory 
review process that addresses the concerns we hear and 
incorporates the values and interests of our communities and 
tribal governments. The mine plan we submit will utilize best 
practices for modern mining and the latest technologies to both 
protect the environment while also producing the natural 
resources required for the energy transition.
    Looking at the Tamarack Nickel Project, we can see the 
potential for discovering more critical minerals here in 
Minnesota. The current known nickel resource at Tamarack is a 
small portion of the remaining geological area of interest for 
Talon.
    And while we are moving forward with shaping a mine design 
for the known resource, our team is also continuing ongoing 
exploration. In our most recent efforts, the exploration team 
has intercepted high-grade, world-class nickel mineralization 
up to 2 miles away from the current known resource.
    As a resident of Aitkin County, I have seen the benefits 
that have been brought to our community from mineral 
exploration activities. The project's land package of over 
31,000 acres sits on state and private lands and has 
contributed over $11 million through state mineral lease fees 
for conducting our exploration activities. These funds are 
broken down to a local level, directly benefiting our counties, 
cities, and schools in the region.
    In addition, over $56 million has been spent on local goods 
and services in Minnesota for the project's exploration 
activities. Of this, over $12 million has been spent within a 
30-mile radius of the project, directly benefiting our local 
economy. A case study on royalty revenue from the Talon project 
was conducted by the Minnesota DNR in 2021 and also estimated 
over $115 million in royalties for the future project.
    Our team has also made extreme efforts to hire locally, 
with 80 percent of our employees based here in Minnesota. For 
future underground mine operations, Talon has a partnership 
agreement with the U.S. Steelworkers, which will support 
regional workforce development.
    Our team at Talon believes that we can explore and develop 
new sources of nickel and other critical minerals for battery 
manufacturing in the United States while also protecting the 
environment, the cultural resources, and our communities. As a 
community member in Tamarack, I believe that we can do this 
too.
    It is an exciting time for mineral exploration and 
development, and I feel grateful that I can live in this area, 
living the small-town life that I love here in northern 
Minnesota, while also being a part of our nation's important 
and historic energy transition that relies on minerals and 
metals for creating a sustainable future. Thank you.

    [The prepared statement of Ms. Johnson follows:]
        Prepared Statement of Jessica Johnson, Talon Nickel USA
    Thank you, Chairman Stauber, and members of the Subcommittee on 
Energy and Mineral Resources for inviting me here today. I am here 
today representing Talon Metals as the Community Outreach & Government 
Relations Manager. Talon Metals is a mineral exploration and 
development company focusing on sourcing nickel and other critical 
minerals from the Tamarack Nickel Project here in Minnesota that will 
contribute the raw materials needed for building out our nation's 
domestic supply chains. I am also speaking to you today as a lifelong 
resident of rural Minnesota, where I have a passion for living the 
``small-town'' life with my family; farming, camping, making maple 
syrup and enjoying the lake.
    The Tamarack Nickel Project, located in Aitkin County, is one of 
the few high-grade nickel projects discovered globally in the 21st 
century, and is currently the only development stage high-grade nickel 
project in the United States. Talon has entered into an agreement with 
Tesla to supply 75,000 metric tonnes (165 million lbs) of nickel in 
concentrate from the Tamarack Nickel Project once commercial production 
is achieved. Currently, the United States has one operating high-grade 
nickel mine, and due to our current supply chain, 100% of that nickel 
is exported for processing and refining. With the Talon and Tesla 
partnership model, we are looking to recreate the supply chain and go 
from raw material to battery, here in the US.
    Our team has been working to collect data on the Tamarack nickel 
deposit and surrounding environment in order to design a modern 
underground mine that meets environmental standards. As part of our 
Company tribal engagement statement, we are also committed to gathering 
input and seeking meaningful consultation with tribal governments. We 
recognize that underground mining involves disturbance of the earth and 
that communities and tribal governments have concerns about the 
potential for negative impacts on the environment. We intend to submit 
a mine plan for the regulatory review process that addresses the 
concerns we hear and incorporates the values and interests of our 
communities and tribal governments. The mine plan we submit will 
utilize best practices for modern mining, and the latest technologies 
to both protect the environment while also producing the natural 
resources required for the energy transition.
    Looking at the Tamarack Nickel Project, we can see the potential 
for discovering more critical minerals here in Minnesota. The current 
known nickel resource at Tamarack is a small portion of the remaining 
geological area of interest for Talon, and while we are moving forward 
with shaping a mine design for the known resource, our team is also 
continuing ongoing exploration. In our most recent efforts, the 
exploration team has intercepted high-grade world class nickel 
mineralization up to 2 miles away from the current resource area.
    As a resident of Aitkin County, I have seen the benefits that have 
been brought to our community from the mineral exploration activities 
at Tamarack. The Project's land package of over 31,000 acres sits on 
state and private lands and has contributed over $11 million through 
state mineral lease fees for conducting our exploration activities. 
These funds are broken down to a local level, directly benefiting the 
counties, cities, and schools in the region. In addition, over $56 
million has been spent on local goods and services in Minnesota for the 
project's exploration activities. Of this, over $12 million has been 
spent within a 30-mile radius of the project, directly benefiting our 
local economy. A case study on royalty revenue from the Talon project 
was conducted by the DNR in 2021 and estimated over $115 million in 
royalties. Our team has also made extreme efforts to hire locally, with 
80% of employees based in Minnesota. For future underground mine 
operations, Talon has a partnership agreement with the US Steelworkers 
which will support regional workforce development.
    Our team at Talon believes that we can explore and develop new 
sources of nickel and other critical minerals for battery manufacturing 
in the United States while also protecting the environment, cultural 
resources and our communities. As a community member in Tamarack, MN I 
believe we can too. It is an exciting time for mineral exploration and 
development, and I feel grateful that I can live the ``small-town'' 
life I love here in northern Minnesota, while also being a part of our 
nation's important and historic energy transition that relies on 
minerals and metals for creating a sustainable future.

                                 ______
                                 

    Mr. Stauber. I thank the witness for her testimony.
    The Chair now recognizes Mr. Peterson for his testimony.

   STATEMENT OF DR. DEAN PETERSON, CHIEF GEOLOGIST, BIG ROCK 
              EXPLORATION, MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA

    Dr. Peterson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the 
Subcommittee. My name is Dean Peterson. I am the chief 
geologist of Big Rock Exploration. I appreciate the opportunity 
to testify here today as a scientist and geologist on the 
mineral wealth of northern Minnesota. I want to relay to you 
some fundamental facts on the geology of Minnesota and briefly 
discuss the unique set of strategic and critical mineral 
resources that these rocks contain.
    Mineral deposits form as the end products of a wide variety 
of Earth processes and in essence reflect the tapestry of time, 
processes, and geologic terranes. Or one could say, ore 
deposits represent the preferential concentration of specific 
elements formed within the Earth by the transfer of mass and 
energy over space and time.
    As we sit here atop the Biwabik Iron Formation of the 
Mesabi Iron Range, perhaps the most important rock unit in the 
history of the United States' industrialization and defense, I 
find it hard not to think back to the thousands of miles of 
terrane I have walked, and the many, many tens of thousands of 
rock exposures I have described and mapped over the last 40 
years.
    It is these types of field observations once condensed and 
integrated into coherent bedrock geology maps that geologists 
have long used to target mineral exploration programs for ore 
deposit types. I have submitted to the Committee a bedrock 
geology map and a mineral resource map of Minnesota that 
highlights Representative Stauber's congressional district.
    Northern Minnesota contains vast expanses of 2.7 billion-
year-old granite-greenstone terranes that globally host a 
significant percentage of the world's mineral resources, 
especially gold, copper, zinc, platinum, palladium, nickel, and 
iron.
    The 1.9 billion-year-old sedimentary rocks of northern 
Minnesota record the Earth's first great bloom of life that 
released oxygen into the ocean and atmosphere and induced 
precipitation of billions of tons of iron and manganese out of 
the ancient oceans to form rocks that we call iron formation, 
including the Biwabik Iron Formation upon which this building 
is built.
    The final Earth event that my testimony will touch upon was 
nature's attempt to split North America apart 1.1 billion years 
ago, in what geologists have called the Mid-Continent Rift. 
When continents rift and the Earth's outer crust thins, the 
underlying mantle of the Earth depressurizes and partially 
melts forming buoyant molten magmas laden with metals. These 
magmas intrude upward from the mantle into the crust where they 
are either trapped at depth to form intrusions, such as the 
Duluth Complex, or erupt on the surface as lavas.
    The transfer of these metal-rich mantle magmas into the 
Earth's crust is the reason why northern Minnesota hosts 
enormous quantities of critical and strategic minerals 
associated with the Mid-Continent Rift, such as like at Talon's 
deposit itself.
    Essentially every atom of copper, nickel, cobalt, platinum, 
palladium, gold, silver, titanium, vanadium, and iron known to 
exist in those deposits were transferred upward from the 
Earth's mantle into the upper crust by these buoyant magmas. 
The bedrock geology within the state of Minnesota represents a 
mosaic of geologic terranes that facilitated ore-forming 
processes unique to this region and underpins a remarkable 
endowment of mineral resource wealth within the United States.
    The geology and mineral deposits of the Lake Superior 
region in general and northern Minnesota in particular are 
unique. No other area of the United States of America hosts 
such an array of Precambrian rocks and the undeveloped world-
class ore deposits contained within them.
    My few allotted minutes here for this testimony are not 
enough time to adequately describe the value and future 
potential of the mineral resources present in northern 
Minnesota. Give me a day or two, and I could bring each and 
every one of you to exposures of rocks that record geological 
processes that drove the formation of some of the world's 
largest ore deposits, and then you could see with your own eyes 
and place your hands upon unequivocal geological evidence that 
the state of Minnesota is uniquely capable of fulfilling much 
of the country's needs for critical and strategic minerals far 
into the future. Thank you.

    [The prepared statement of Dr. Peterson follows:]
Prepared Statement of Dean M. Peterson Ph.D., Chief Geologist, Big Rock 
                              Exploration
Introduction

    Mineral deposits are formed as end products of a wide variety of 
Earth processes and reflect, in essence, a tapestry of time, processes, 
and geologic terranes. Geologists have long used such knowledge to 
target exploration programs for specific ore deposit types/commodities 
within different geologic terranes. Any coherent examination of the 
vast mineral wealth of Northern Minnesota must begin with an 
understanding of the geology of the Lake Superior region and how 
specific profound global geological events in Earth history set the 
stage for the unique set of world-class mineral resources found 
therein.
    My 35+ years as an economic geologist have primarily been spent out 
in the field unraveling the geology and mineral potential of the 
Precambrian rocks of Northern Minnesota. My Ph.D. from the University 
of Minnesota focused on the gold and copper-zinc mineral potential of a 
large area of Archean granite-greenstone terrane north of the Mesabi 
Range. I have worked extensively as an academic researcher and as the 
Senior Vice President of Exploration for Duluth Metals on understanding 
the geology and Cu-Ni-Co-PGE mineralization of contact-type deposits of 
the Duluth Complex. My two seasons of field research on seemingly 100% 
exposure of mafic intrusions in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica, 
that are similar to the intrusions in the Duluth Complex, has led to a 
profound new understanding of how these mineral systems work and form 
world-class ore deposits of critically important minerals. I have 
recently been a Ph.D. committee member for a University of Michigan 
student studying the origin of the Ti-Fe-V ores of the Longnose and 
TiTac deposits along the western margin of the Duluth Complex. I have 
completed academic research studies on the eastern-most Mesabi Range, 
defining coherent zones of iron ores at Dunka Pit that perhaps one day 
could be mined to make DRI-grade (very-low silica) taconite pellets, 
and am currently actively engaged at Big Rock Exploration in a drilling 
program for manganese resources within the Emily Deposit of the Cuyuna 
Range.
    It is these unique rocks and their known and potential mineral 
wealth that is the focus of today's hearing, and I am happy to share my 
knowledge to the committee. This written testimony will attempt, in 
general terms, to explain how Northern Minnesota's known mineral 
resources, including Fe-Mn deposits within the states iron ranges and 
copper-nickel-cobalt-platinum group element (Cu-Ni-Co-PGE) & titanium-
iron-vanadium (Ti-Fe-V) deposits in the Duluth Complex, are the 
outcomes of specific geological events unique to the Lake Superior 
region.
Geology of Northern Minnesota

    Minnesota is situated at the southern edge of the Canadian Shield, 
the nucleus of the North American continent that formed during 
Precambrian time. This period of time encompasses about 85% of Earth's 
history, beginning with the formation of planet Earth about 4.550 
billion years (Ga) ago and ending about 0.54 Ga, when organisms with 
hard parts, such as shells, rapidly diversified. The great span of 
Precambrian time is divided for convenience into two major parts--the 
Archean Eon (4.55-2.50 Ga) and the Proterozoic Eon (2.50-0.54 Ga). The 
rocks formed in Minnesota during this enormous span of time record a 
complicated geologic history that involved volcanoes, ocean islands, 
mountain chains, earthquakes, and eons of time where the landscape 
simply weathered and eroded away.
    As the various mountainous Precambrian landscapes of Minnesota were 
slowly eroded to low relief over 2.7 billion years, Precambrian rocks 
that were once much deeper within the Earth are now exposed on the 
surface in Minnesota's flat terrain. These rocks record processes and 
conditions that existed beneath landscapes long since removed by 
erosion. Presently, the deeply eroded Precambrian rocks of Northern 
Minnesota are mostly covered by a veneer of glacially deposited clay, 
silt, sand, and gravel.
Archean 2.7 Ga Rocks of Northern Minnesota
    The Archean rocks of Minnesota are part of the Superior Province of 
the Canadian Shield. The Superior Province is subdivided into 
subprovinces, which are broadly east-west, linear belts of rocks of 
similar geologic history and age. The subprovinces in Minnesota from 
south to north include the Minnesota River Valley, Abitibi-Wawa, 
Quetico, and Wabigoon.
    The 2.7 Ga Archean rocks of Northern Minnesota occur mainly north 
of the Mesabi iron range, and may be seen in Voyageurs National Park, 
in the western part of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, and 
in scattered areas elsewhere between International Falls and Ely. This 
group includes the Abitibi-Wawa granite-greenstone subprovince, the 
Quetico subprovince, and the Wabigoon granite-greenstone subprovince. 
The Abitibi-Wawa and Wabigoon subprovinces originally were parts of 
volcanic chains that were later deformed and intruded by granite. The 
Quetico subprovince was likely a large sedimentary basin on or between 
the volcanic arcs of the Wabigoon and Abitibi-Wawa. The granites welded 
the greenstone belts together to form the core of the North American 
continent. The end of the Archean Eon is a profound time in Earth 
history. The formation of stable cratonic cores of continents allowed 
for the deposition of vast sequences of sedimentary rocks. World-wide, 
Archean greenstone terranes are known to host some of the largest 
mineral deposits on Earth, especially iron, orogenic gold, and copper-
zinc-rich volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits.
Paleoproterozoic 1.9-1.7 Ga Rocks of Northern Minnesota
    One of the most profound events in Earth's history is recorded in 
the Paleoproterozoic rocks of Northern Minnesota. That event was the 
proliferation of cyanobacterial life on Earth in shallow water oceanic 
settings at the margins of eroded Archean cratons. This ancient life, 
which is recorded in the rocks as fossil stromatolites, released oxygen 
into the Earth's oceans and atmosphere and thus precipitated vast 
quantities of dissolved iron out of the ocean to form the chemical 
sedimentary rocks we call iron formation. Paleoproterozoic rocks occur 
in Minnesota from St. Cloud northeast to Moose Lake and Carlton, and 
north up to the Mesabi Iron Range near Eveleth and Hibbing. The 
southern part of the Paleoproterozoic terrane, approximately south of a 
line that runs west from Jay Cooke State Park, is a mixture of 
metamorphosed sedimentary and volcanic rocks and includes the Fe-Mn ore 
deposits of the Cuyuna iron range. To the south, these rocks were 
intruded later by several large granitic intrusions, emplaced between 
1.80 and 1.76 Ga, that collectively form an amalgamation referred to as 
the East-Central Minnesota batholith.
    The northern part of this terrane is made up of slate and 
graywacke, iron formation, and quartzite. The base of this sequence is 
quartzite, formerly sandstone, that was deposited on top of the older 
Archean bedrock. Above the quartzite is the Biwabik Iron Formation, 
long mined for its vast quantities of iron ore. Slate and graywacke 
overly the iron formation and covers a vast area from the Mesabi Iron 
Range south to Jay Cooke State Park, where one can easily see that it 
has been folded and deformed.
    The metamorphosed volcanic and sedimentary rocks that make up the 
southern part of the Paleoproterozoic terrane are likely part of a 
former mountain belt, the Penokean orogen, that extended west from Lake 
Huron to South Dakota, and perhaps farther, from about 2.0 to 1.8 Ga 
ago. The eroded remnants of this belt have geologic similarities to 
modern mountain belts along the west coast of North America. Therefore, 
geologists infer that mountainous terranes comparable to those 
currently found in western California existed long ago in Minnesota. 
During this mountain forming orogenic event, the crust was uplifted, 
and a large basin formed to the north; sediment shed into this northern 
segment produced the thick sequence of slate and graywacke in the 
deeper parts, and along the northern margin of this basin, the Pokegama 
Quartzite and Biwabik Iron Formation were deposited forming the Mesabi 
Iron Range, one of the largest mining districts in the world. In 2019, 
the Paleoproterozoic age iron deposits of the Lake Superior region 
(Northern Minnesota and Michigan) accounted for 98% of the usable iron-
ore products in the United States.
Mesoproterozoic 1.1 Ga Rocks of Northern Minnesota
    Mesoproterozoic rocks of Northern Minnesota occur along the shore 
of Lake Superior, continue south along the Minnesota-Wisconsin border, 
and extend southwest into Kansas. These rocks formed around 1.1 Ga ago 
along the Midcontinent Rift system, a major feature that formed by the 
spreading apart of older continental crust. As the crust spread and 
thinned, fractures and faults formed, providing pathways for molten 
magma from the mantle to work its way to the surface, where it erupted 
as volcanoes. The base of the volcanic pile was intruded by magma that 
cooled more slowly below the surface, forming troctolite, gabbro, 
anorthosite, and granite. The wholesale partial melting of the Earth's 
mantle, and transfer of these magmas upwards into the Earth's crust, is 
the reason why Northern Minnesota hosts enormous quantities of critical 
minerals associated with the Mid-Continent Rift. Essentially every atom 
of copper, nickel, cobalt, platinum, palladium, gold, silver, titanium, 
vanadium, and iron known to exist in Mesoproterozoic age ore deposits 
of Northern Minnesota were transferred by buoyant magmas from the 
Earth's mantle to crust by these magmas. When volcanism ceased, 
blankets of sand, now sandstone, were deposited in a basin on top of 
the volcanic rocks, such as the Hinckley Sandstone exposed in Banning 
State Park.
    Rocks similar to the Mesoproterozoic volcanic rocks exposed along 
the north shore of Lake Superior were mined extensively for copper in 
Michigan, but no similar deposits of economic scale have been found 
here. In Minnesota, an enormous reserve of copper, nickel, cobalt and 
associated platinum, palladium, and gold exists at the base of the 
Duluth Complex, along the northwest edge of the Mesoproterozoic system, 
and in an intrusion near the town of Tamarack. The sandstones that 
overlie the volcanic rocks have been quarried in the past for building 
and paving stone, and gabbro and anorthosite is quarried for both 
dimension stone and road aggregates.
Mineral Resources of Northern Minnesota

    Since the 1880s, two broad types of mineral resources have been 
actively mined and/or explored for in northern Minnesota. They are: 1) 
Ferrous resources, which include iron (Fe) deposits of the Archean 2.7 
(Ga) Vermilion Range, the Paleoproterozoic 1.85 Ga Fe deposits of the 
Mesabi Range, and manganese-iron (Mn-Fe) deposits of the Cuyuna Range; 
and 2) Non-ferrous resources, which include the Mesoproterozoic (1.1 
Ga) Cu-Ni-Co-PGE and Ti-V deposits of the Mid-Continent Rift. Also, 
numerous mineral exploration programs in the Archean 2.7 Ga greenstone 
belts of Minnesota over the last 60 years have identified numerous 
prospective lode-gold and copper-zinc target areas. This written 
testimony includes as a supporting document a bedrock geology and 
mineral resource map of Minnesota that highlights the 8th Congressional 
District (Peterson, 2022).
Ferrous Resources

    The ferrous mineral resources of Northern Minnesota include several 
categories of marine chemocline mineral systems outlined in recent USGS 
publications (Schulz et al., 2017 and Hofstra and Kreiner, 2020). These 
categories include: 1) Superior-type iron deposits (Mesabi Range), 2) 
Iron-Manganese deposits (Cuyuna Range, 100 million tons), and 3) 
Algoma-type iron deposits (Vermilion Range (102 million tons). Brief 
descriptions of the geology and mineral resources of the Mesabi and 
Cuyuna iron ranges is provided below.
Superior Type Iron Resources of the Mesabi Iron Range
    Superior type iron formation resources of Minnesota are exemplified 
by the long-standing mining of iron resources of the Biwabik Iron 
Formation along the length of the Mesabi Iron Range. The Mesabi Iron 
Range is largely located in St. Louis and Itasca counties and has been 
the most important iron ore district in the United States since 1900. 
The Mesabi Iron Range is 120 miles long, averages one to two miles 
wide, and is comprised of rocks of the Paleoproterozoic Animikie Group. 
The Animikie Group on the Mesabi Iron consists of three conformable 
major formations: Pokegama Formation at the base; Biwabik Iron 
Formation in the middle; and the overlying Virginia Formation. On the 
Mesabi Iron Range, these three formations display gentle dips to the 
southeast at an angle of 3-15 degrees.
    Leached and iron enriched direct ores (or natural ores) were the 
first materials mined from strongly oxidized pockets along fault and 
fracture zones and the blanket oxidation at the surface in the iron 
formation (Marsden et al., 1968), with the first shipment beginning in 
1892. Taconite, which is the material that is mined today using 
magnetic separation methods, constitutes most of the iron formation and 
pertains to the hard, non-oxidized portions of the iron-formation. Maps 
of currently active taconite mining operations and the historic natural 
ore mines on the Mesabi Iron Range are presented on inset maps 1, 2, 
and 3 on the provided bedrock geology and mineral resources map 
(Peterson, 2022). Compiled grade/tonnage ore reserve calculations for 
the active taconite operations on the Mesabi iron range are given in 
Table 1.

  Table 1. Recent grade-tonnage reserve estimates of the Mesabi Iron 
                         Range taconite mines.
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]


Mn-Fe Resources of the Cuyuna Iron Range
    The Cuyuna Range is about 160 km west-southwest of Duluth in 
Aitkin, Cass, Crow Wing, and Morrison Counties, and is part of a 
Paleoproterozoic (1.9-1.8 Ga) geologic terrane which occupies much of 
east-central Minnesota. Since their discovery in 1904, it has been 
recognized that the iron-formations and associated ore deposits of the 
Cuyuna Range contained appreciable quantities of manganese which was 
extracted as ferromanganese ores from several mines on the North range 
from 1911 to 1984. The presence of this manganese resource sets the 
Cuyuna range apart from other iron-mining districts of the Lake 
Superior region.
    The Cuyuna iron range is traditionally divided into three 
districts, the Emily district, the North range, and the South range. 
The Emily district extends from the Mississippi River northward through 
Crow Wing County and into southern Cass County. Although exploration 
drilling has been extensive in the Emily district, mining never 
commenced. The North range, located near the cities of Crosby and 
Ironton in Crow Wing County, was the principal site of mining activity 
(ceased in 1984) of the Cuyuna. The South range, where only a few mines 
were operated in the 1910s and 20s, comprises an area of northeast-
trending, generally parallel belts of iron-formation extending from 
near Randall in Morrison County northeast for about 100 km. In addition 
to the three named districts, numerous linear magnetic anomalies occur 
east of the range proper, and may indicate other, but as yet poorly 
defined, beds of iron-formation.
    Several attempts have been made over the last 70 years to estimate 
the size of the manganese resources of the Cuyuna iron range. For 
example, Lewis (1951) estimated that 455 million metric tons of 
manganiferous iron-formation containing from 2 to 10 percent manganese 
were available to open-pit mining to a depth of 45 meters. Dorr et al., 
(1973) used that estimate to establish that the Cuyuna range contains 
approximately 46 percent of known manganese resources in the United 
States. US Steel geologist Richard Strong (1959) estimated iron and 
manganese resources from several well-drilled deposits in the Emily 
District and Beltrame et al., (1981) estimated a minimum of 170 million 
metric tons of manganiferous rock with an average grade of 10.46 weight 
percent manganese. All of these historic grade/tonnage estimates should 
be considered with a certain amount of skepticism as they do not 
conform to current best practices of mineral resource estimation. A 
listing of the grade and tonnage from properties that Strong (1959) and 
Beltrami et al., (1981) estimated manganese resources is given in Table 
2.

Table 2. Historic grade-tonnage estimates (non-NI 43-101 compliant) of 
manganese resource within the Cuyuna Iron Range. Table only lists those 
            properties with estimated >500,000 tons of ore.
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]


Non-ferrous Resources

    The non-ferrous mineral resources of Northern Minnesota include 
several categories of mafic magmatic mineral systems outlined in recent 
U.S. Geological Survey publications (Schulz et al., 2017 and Hofstra 
and Kreiner, 2020). These categories include: 1) Contact-type Cu-Ni-Co-
PGE sulfide deposits; 2) Conduit-type Ni-Cu-Co-PGE sulfide deposits: 
and 3) Iron-Titanium oxide (Fe-Ti-V-P) deposits. All of these non-
ferrous mineral resources are related to the 1.1 Ga Mid-Continent Rift. 
A summation of published values of known in-situ contents of base 
metals (Cu-Ni-Co) and precious metals (Pt-Pd-Au-Ag) for the contact-
type and conduit-type mineral resources of Northern Minnesota is given 
in Table 3.

 Table 3. In-Situ value estimate of the known mineral deposits of the 
             Mid-Continent Rift in the State of Minnesota.
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

Contact-type Cu-Ni-Co-PGE sulfide deposits
    Contact-type Cu-Ni-PGE magmatic sulfide deposits (Zientek, 2012) of 
the midcontinent of North America are exemplified by the large, mainly 
disseminated sulfide deposits that occur along the basal contact of the 
Duluth Complex where magmas intruded and incorporated footwall 
Paleoproterozoic Animikie Group metasedimentary rocks and Archean 
granitoids. Major deposits include Birch Lake, Maturi, Mesaba, 
NorthMet, Serpentine, and Spruce Road. Disseminated and local massive 
sulfide mineralization of the Duluth Complex was historically estimated 
to contain about 4.4 billion metric tons of ore with average grades of 
0.66% Cu and 0.2% Ni at a 0.5% Cu cut-off (Listerud and Meinike, 1977). 
Recent exploration and project development for many of these Duluth 
Complex contact-type deposits has led to upgraded mineral resource 
estimates for many of these deposits via the publication of numerous Ni 
43-101 compliant mineral resource estimates. Combined together the 
upgraded estimate contains 9.57 billion metric tons with average grades 
of 0.406% Cu, 0.126% Ni, and 0.326 g/t Pt-Pd-Au.
Conduit-type Ni-Cu-Co-PGE sulfide deposits
    Conduit-type Ni-Cu-PGE sulfide deposits are defined as magmatic 
sulfide mineralization restricted to small- to medium-sized mafic and/
or ultramafic tube-like intrusions or dikes that served as pathways for 
flow-through of picritic and/or Mg-rich basaltic magmas (Schulz et al., 
2014). These important sulfide deposits are unique in that they 
typically contain more metal and sulfur than could be derived from a 
magma volume equal to the limited volume of the small intrusions that 
host deposits. This implies that these deposits were products of a 
greater volume of magma than the current volume of the host intrusion. 
Thus, conduit-type sulfide deposits are the product of a large volume 
of magma that moved through open conduit systems, enriching an 
immiscible sulfide liquid with metals such as Ni, Cu, Co, and PGE. 
Rocks that make up host intrusions generally do not represent primary 
magmas, but are accumulations of olivine, pyroxene, and immiscible 
sulfide liquid.
    The Tamarack deposit is the only documented conduit-type sulfide 
deposit in Northern Minnesota. The ultramafic Tamarack Intrusive, with 
a minimum intrusion age of 1105.61.2 Ma (Goldner, 2011), is 
made up of several distinct intrusive bodies, including an ovoid-shaped 
Bowl Intrusion of oxide gabbro and two sulfide mineralized intrusive 
dike-like peridotite bodies that give the complex a tadpole shape 
(Taranovic et al., 2015). Mineralization at Tamarack consists of 
disseminated to net textured to massive pyrrhotite, pentlandite, 
chalcopyrite, and minor cubanite.
Ti-Fe-V Resources of the Duluth Complex
    Small titanium-ironvanadium oxide-rich, plug-like, 
discordant intrusions along the southern basal section of the Duluth 
Complex are called Oxide-Ultramafic Intrusions, or OUIs. Rock types 
carrying the Ti-FeV oxide mineralization in OUIs include 
dunite, peridotite, and pyroxenite, typically with more than 10% semi-
massive to massive oxide zones (Severson and Hauck, 1990). Deposits, 
including the major OUIs Longnose, TiTac, and Water Hen, can also carry 
minor Cu sulfide mineralization.
    Identified resources of Minnesota's OUI associated Ti-Fe-V deposits 
include the: 1) Longnose deposit, with a NI 43-101 indicated resource 
of 58.1 million tons averaging 16.6% TiO2 (inferred 65.3 
million tons averaging 16.4% TiO2) based on 27 drill holes 
and using a cut-off grade of 8% TiO2; 2) Titac deposit, with 
a NI 43-101 inferred resource of 45.1 million tons averaging 14% 
TiO2 based on 32 drill holes and using a cut-off grade of 8% 
TiO2; and 3) Water Hen deposit, with a crudely estimated 62 
million tons averaging 14% TiO2 and significant graphite 
resources, based on 37 drill holes.
Summary

    Ore deposits represent the preferential concentration of specific 
elements within the earth via the transfer of mass and energy over 
space and time. The bedrock geology within the state of Minnesota 
represents a mosaic of geological terranes that facilitated ore-forming 
processes unique to this region and underpins a remarkable endowment of 
mineral resource wealth within the United States. The geology and 
mineral deposits of the Lake Superior area in general, and Northern 
Minnesota in particular, are unique. No other area of the United States 
of America hosts such an array of Precambrian rocks and the world-class 
ore deposits that these rocks contain. As the fifth most valuable state 
with respect to mineral production (USGS, 2022), Minnesota stands alone 
in its potential to advance the domestic supply of many critical 
minerals into the United States economy and lead the way toward a 
brighter future.
References

Beltrame, R.J., Holtzman, R.C., and Wahl, T.E., 1981, Manganese 
resources of the Cuyuna range, east-central Minnesota: Minnesota 
Geological Survey Report of Investigations 24, 22 p.

Dorr, J.VN., II, Crittenden, M.D., Jr., and Worl, RG., 1973, Manganese, 
in Probst, D.A., and Pratt, W.P., eds., United States Mineral 
Resources: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 820, p. 385-399.

Goldner, B.D., 2011. Igneous petrology of the Ni-Cu-PGE mineralized 
Tamarack Intrusion, Aitkin and Carlton Counties. Unpublished M.S. 
thesis, Univ. Minn.-Duluth, Duluth, MN, pp. 155.

Hofstra, A.H., and Kreiner, D.C., Systems-Deposits-Commodities-Critical 
Minerals Table for the Earth Mapping Resource Initiative: U.S. 
Geological Survey Open-File Report 2020-1042, 24 p.

Lewis, W.E., 1951, Relationship of the Cuyuna manganiferous resources 
to others in the United States, in Geology of the Cuyuna range-Mining 
Geology Symposium, 3rd, Hibbing, Minnesota, Proceedings: Minneapolis, 
University of Minnesota, Center for Continuation Study, p. 30-43.

Listerud, W.H., Meineke, D.G., 1977. Mineral resources of a portion of 
the Duluth Complex and adjacent rocks in St. Louis and Lake Counties, 
northeastern Minnesota. Minn. Dept. Nat. Res. Div. Min. Rep. 93, pp. 
74.

Marsden, R.W., Emanuelson, J.W., Owens, J.S., et al., 1968, The Mesabi 
Iron Range, Minnesota, in Ridge, J.D. (ed.), Ore Deposits of the United 
States, 1933-1967: New York, American Institute of Mining, 
Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Inc., The Grafton-Sales Volume, 
v. 1, p. 518-537.

Peterson, D.M., 2022, Precambrian bedrock geology and mineral resources 
map of Minnesota: Highlighting the 8th Congressional District of the 
U.S. House of Representatives, Big Rock Exploration map BRE-Map-2022-01

Schulz, K.J., DeYoung, J.H., Jr., Seal, R.R., II, and Bradley, D.C., 
eds., 2017, Critical mineral resources of the United States--Economic 
and environmental geology and prospects for future supply: U.S. 
Geological Survey Professional Paper 1802, 797 p., https://doi.org/
10.3133/pp1802.

Schulz, K.J., Woodruff, L.G., Nicholson, S.W., et al., 2014, Occurrence 
model for magmatic sulfide-rich nickel-copper-(platinum-group-element) 
related to mafic and ultramafic dike-sill complexes. U.S. Geol. Surv. 
SIR 2010-5070-I, pp. 80.

Severson, M.J., Hauck, S.A., 1990. Geology, geochemistry, and 
stratigraphy of a portion of the Partridge River intrusion. Nat. Res. 
Resch. Inst. NRRI/TR-59/11, pp. 149.

Strong, R., 1959, Report on Geological Investigation of the Cuyuna 
District, Minnesota, 1949-1959, US Steel Internal Report, 318 pages.

Taranovic, V., Ripley, E.M., Li, C., Rossell, D., 2015. Petrogenesis of 
the NI-Cu-PGE sulfide-bearing Tamarack Intrusive Complex, Midcontinent 
Rift System, Minnesota. Lithos, 212-215, 16-31.

U.S. Geological Survey, 2022, Mineral commodity summaries 2022: U.S. 
Geological Survey, 202 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/mcs2022.

Zientek, M.L. 2012. Magmatic ore deposits in layered intrusions--
Descriptive model for reef-type PGE and contact type Cu-Ni-PGE 
deposits. U.S. Geological Survey OFR 2012-1010, 48 pp.

                                 ______
                                 

    Mr. Stauber. I thank the witness for his testimony.
    The Chair will now recognize Mr. Baltich for his testimony.

    STATEMENT OF JOE BALTICH, OWNER, NORTHWIND LODGE, ELY, 
                           MINNESOTA

    Mr. Baltich. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the 
Committee. My name is Joe Baltich, and I am from Ely, 
Minnesota. We have established that already, but I am 
redundant. I am a small business owner who operates Northwind 
Lodge, a family oriented wilderness resort that has existed 
since my grandfather built the first cabin on Jasper Lake in 
1939.
    I live 15 miles northeast of Ely surrounded by the Boundary 
Waters Canoe Area border on three sides. In conjunction with 
the resort, I have spent 35 years in wilderness canoe trip 
outfitting and guiding, and we ran a cross-country ski center 
as well. I am also an artist who paints fine art. And like many 
people who have spent their entire lives in Ely, my third job 
is as a bus driver for the Ely Independent School District 696.
    As a tourism operator, I am exposed firsthand to the impact 
tourism has on the Ely area. Forty-five years of working in 
tourism proves it will always be a fluid, feast-or-famine 
business.
    When I was a kid, like many other resort owners, my dad was 
also otherwise employed. He was a police officer for the city 
of Ely. He also guided fishing trips and trapped on the side. 
During my early years, our family food supply was often 
supplemented by hunting and fishing. Based on my life 
experience and observations, tourism alone will never carry the 
region. It just can't.
    Upon graduating from college in the early 1980s, I ran for 
office and was elected as mayor of Ely. During that time we 
were coming off of a bad economic recession. Reserve Mine in 
neighboring Babbitt had closed for good, which resulted in 
1,300 families leaving Ely.
    As city council members, we were tasked with finding a 
viable industry to keep our people employed. We found that due 
to Ely's remote location, the high cost of shipping stifled our 
competitiveness. Ely ended up relying on non-tax-paying 
governmental entities to become limited job providers, and of 
course, we had summer tourism and some logging.
    Today, as is evident in the empty homes and storefronts 
that now still line our streets, we are still struggling. In 
Ely, Goodwill couldn't even make it when selling a free 
inventory. Accordingly, I will say that the pandemic flurry of 
activity that we have just experienced will be fleeting as 
well.
    Iron ore from Ely and the Range was consequential to 
winning World War II and also rebuilding war-torn Europe and 
Japan in the years following. After 88 years of unregulated 
massive iron mining into the early 1970s, the Federal 
Government found our most precious resource, our water, to be 
pristine enough to create a designated wilderness park called 
the Boundary Waters Canoe Area.
    We were all told that the highly restrictive BWCA was going 
to be a big draw for tourism, but with about 100,000 visitors 
to the park per year spread over six different access regions 
and limited travel permits, that was a lot of baloney. 
Meanwhile, there are constant environmental lawsuits directed 
at mines for supposed BWCA pollution. Living next to this park 
feels like having a perpetually vindictive dog waiting to bite 
us for some environmentalist-perceived infraction.
    Despite alleged dust and water from mining, our water is 
still clean, the air is fantastic, and our fishing is still 
awesome. We have abundant wildlife, this despite all the claims 
against the mining industry, which has operated for far longer 
than the Boundary Waters has existed. Like slip-and-fall 
attorneys, I am convinced that environmentalists mainly 
litigate for cash-flow.
    Given the market-based volatility of the taconite industry, 
mining diversity is sensible. Copper-nickel would add regional 
stability to the Range. Filling the need for critical minerals 
mined and controlled inside the United States for the national 
defense is just plain smart.
    With the massive tax dollars that would benefit all 
Minnesotans, the gains to the Mineral Trust fund for the 
schools and the strong market demand, copper-nickel mining is 
the way of our current and distant future. The year is 2023, 
not 1955. Modern mining technology and local miners are fully 
capable of performing well at both PolyMet and Twin Metals.
    A current example of successful modern-day mining in a 
water-rich environment is the Eagle Mine in Western Market 
County, Michigan. They literally began mining copper in 2014 
under Obama's EPA and have expanded their underground 
operations since. How come they can do it?
    Ely is sitting on an estimated $550 billion in copper-
nickel. I will repeat, $550 billion of copper-nickel. I want to 
see 200 and more year-round employed copper-nickel miners 
making $85,000 per year while shopping in the region and at 
Ely's grocery store so it will be there when I am 80 years old.
    Copper mining will actually improve the tourism industry. 
Just like Red Lake, Ontario, where for 40 years they have mined 
gold immediately next to their beautiful Woodland Caribou Park, 
our Boundary Waters will remain as it is today, beautiful and 
inaccessible.
    Based on our state and Federal laws and regulations, plus 
an experienced, proud workforce, there is no rational reason 
that says Americans, namely iron rangers, can't get this done 
right. We can and we will. Thank you.

    [The prepared statement of Mr. Baltich follows:]
       Prepared Statement of Joe Baltich, Owner, Northwind Lodge
    My name is Joe Baltich, I'm from Ely Minnesota. I am a small 
business owner who operates Northwind Lodge, a family-oriented 
wilderness resort that has existed since my grandfather built the first 
cabin on Jasper Lake in 1939. I live 15 miles northeast of Ely 
surrounded by the Boundary Waters Canoe Area border on three sides. In 
conjunction with the resort, I have spent 35 years in wilderness canoe 
trip outfitting and guiding and we ran a cross country ski center. I am 
also an artist who paints fine art and like many other people who have 
spent their entire lives in Ely, my third job is as a busdriver for the 
Ely Independent School District 696.
    As a tourism operator, I am exposed first-hand to the impact 
tourism has on the Ely area. 45 years of working in tourism proves it 
will always be a fluid, feast or famine business. When I was a kid, 
like many other resort owners, my dad also was employed as a police 
officer for the city of Ely. He also guided fishing trips and trapped 
on the side. During my early years, our family food supply was often 
supplemented by hunting and fishing. Based on my life experience and 
observations, tourism alone will never carry the region. It just can't.
    Upon graduating from college in the early 80's, I ran for office 
and was elected as mayor of Ely. During that time, we were coming off 
of a bad economic recession. Reserve Mine in neighboring Babbitt had 
closed for good which resulted in 1300 families leaving Ely. As city 
council members we were tasked with finding a viable industry to keep 
our people employed. We found that due to Ely's remote location, the 
high cost of shipping stifled competitiveness. Ely ended up relying on 
non-taxpaying governmental entities to become limited job providers 
and, of course, we had summer tourism and some logging. Today, as is 
evident in the empty homes and storefronts that now still line our 
streets, we are still struggling. In Ely, Goodwill couldn't even make 
it when selling a free inventory. Accordingly, I will say the pandemic 
flurry of activity will be fleeting as well.
    Iron ore from Ely and the Range was consequential to winning World 
War II and also rebuilding war torn Europe and Japan in years 
following. After 88 years of unregulated massive iron mining into the 
early 70's, the federal government found our most precious resource--
our water--to be pristine enough to create the designated wilderness 
park, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. We were all told the highly 
restrictive BWCA was going to be a big draw for tourism, but with about 
100,000 visitors to the park per year spread over 6 different access 
regions and limited travel permits, that was a lot of baloney. 
Meanwhile, there are constant environmental lawsuits directed at mines 
for supposed BWCA pollution. Living next to this park feels like having 
a perpetually vindictive dog waiting to bite us for some 
environmentalist-perceived infraction. Despite alleged dust and water 
from mining, our water is still clean, the air is fantastic, and the 
fishing is still awesome. We have abundant wildlife. This despite all 
the claims against the mining industry which has operated for far 
longer than the Boundary Waters has existed. Like slip & fall 
attorneys, I'm convinced that environmentalists mainly litigate for 
cash-flow.
    Given the market-based volatility of the taconite industry, mining 
diversity is sensible. Copper nickel would add regional stability to 
the Range. Filling the need for critical minerals--mined and controlled 
inside the United States--for national defense is just plain smart. 
With the massive tax dollars that would benefit ALL Minnesotans, the 
gains to the Minerals Trust fund for schools and the strong market 
demand, copper nickel mining is the way of our current and distant 
future.
    The year is 2023, not 1955. Modern mining technology and local 
miners are fully capable of performing well at both Polymet and Twin 
Metals. A current example of successful modern day copper mining ``in a 
water-rich environment'' is Eagle mine in western Marquette county, 
Michigan. They literally began mining copper in 2014 under Obama's EPA 
and have expanded their underground operations since. How come they can 
do it?
    Ely is sitting on an estimated $550 Billion dollars in Copper 
Nickel. I want to see 200 and more, year-round-employed copper nickel 
miners making $85,000 per year while shopping in the region and at 
Ely's grocery store so it's still there when I'm 80. Copper mining will 
actually improve the tourism industry. Just like Red Lake Ontario where 
for 40 years they've mined gold immediately next to their beautiful 
Woodland Caribou park, our Boundary Waters will remain as it is today, 
beautiful and inaccessible. Based on our state and federal laws and 
regulations plus an experienced, proud, workforce, there is no rational 
reason that says Americans, namely Iron Rangers can't get this done 
right. We can and we will. Thank you.

                                 ______
                                 

    Mr. Stauber. I want to thank the witnesses for your 
testimony.
    And now we will move to the questions portion. I first 
recognize myself for 5 minutes.
    Ms. Johnson, Mr. Baltich, and Mr. Peterson, great to see 
you all again here today, and I appreciate you coming and 
giving your testimony.
    Mr. Peterson, in your testimony you stated, and I quote, 
``no other area of the United States of America hosts such an 
array of Precambrian rocks and the world-class ore deposits 
that these rocks contain.'' That is high praise. Yet, we are 
only mining iron right now compared to other non-ferrous 
deposits that you have mapped.
    What makes the Duluth Complex, the Tamarack Complex, and 
the rest of our geology up here so special?
    Dr. Peterson. What makes us so special is what I described, 
the 1.1 billion-year-old Mid-Continent Rift. When you melt the 
mantle, you exchange all those elements from the Earth's mantle 
and drive them up into the crust. And there is no other part of 
the United States of America that something like that happened.
    We have talked about the Eagle Mine in Michigan. That is 
part of the Mid-Continent Rift. It is part of the same process. 
But the rocks there have been uplifted a little bit differently 
than they are in Minnesota, so we don't see the intrusions at 
depth like we do in the whole of Duluth Complex.
    In the Duluth Complex, as an intrusive body is the third 
largest known on Earth. It is gigantic. It has an intrusive 
body that goes from Duluth up toward Ely and then all the way 
almost to Grand Marais. It is a giant body of rocks that 
actually, when you are out there, I mean, you go south of Ely 
on Highway 1, you cross the Kawishiwi River, and you will be in 
rocks that 100 percent of it is from the Earth's mantle. And 
there is nowhere else in the United States that has things like 
that at all.
    Mr. Stauber. Thank you.
    Ms. Johnson, thank you for joining us today. The Tamarack 
project on state and local land is generating millions in 
revenue in Aitkin County and the state of Minnesota. Once the 
mine plan is offered and you were to get a project up and 
running, can you discuss the further investment that would 
follow and how that would further benefit an area in need of 
economic development?
    Ms. Johnson. Yes. As I mentioned earlier, in 2021 the 
Minnesota DNR did a case study on the Tamarack project for the 
estimated royalty revenue, and that was estimated at over $115 
million. So, those funds would be broken down between the 
state, county, township, and the local school district.
    And this is really a huge impact for our area in Aitkin 
County. If you are not familiar, Aitkin County has a population 
of approximately 9 people per square mile, and in the city of 
Tamarack, where our project is located, we have a population of 
62 people. So, the revenue like this would be greatly 
beneficial.
    Mr. Stauber. In one of the poorest counties in the state?
    Ms. Johnson. Yes.
    And then for future jobs, we are currently estimating about 
150 additional jobs to what we already have on site, which is 
about 80 for the mine operations. That is not including 
construction phase as well. So, there would be more to come 
with that.
    Mr. Stauber. All right. Can you discuss some of the local 
support for the Talon project?
    Ms. Johnson. Yes. With my role with community outreach, I 
have the privilege of hearing a lot of different perspectives 
on our project. We have quite a few local year-round residents 
that we have built some strong relationships with. This project 
has been explored since 2002. So, a lot of times our supporters 
in the area, we often hear them say, ``When are you going to 
finally start mining?'' That is typically the question that we 
hear.
    But we also hear people that have concerns as well just 
with the fear of potential negative impacts, and I really think 
that hearing those concerns is helpful at this early stage 
because we can incorporate those perspectives as we are still 
shaping our mine plan.
    But overall in the community, I really would say that the 
majority of people are neutral. They understand and acknowledge 
the need for minerals and metals in our daily life, but they 
also want to see the environment protected. And that is a good 
thing, and I think that is what we are about to enter with our 
project as we start the permitting process.
    Mr. Stauber. Thank you very much.
    Mr. Baltich, as a former mayor of Ely, you saw what happens 
to regions when mining operation is declining. And as a long 
time resort owner, you testified about the resort industry's 
feast-or-famine business. Can you share with the audience the 
impact that copper-nickel mining would have on Ely and the 
surrounding area and how modern mining can truly diversify the 
economy?
    Mr. Baltich. Sure. An immediate impact would be, if a mine 
was up and running, and they had a number of employees, those 
employees all have family. And back in the 1970s, when the 
mines were running, Reserve Mine was a big employer to Ely back 
in at that time. When they were operational, it was not 
uncommon at all to have lodge guests come to stay at our resort 
that had kids that were working in the mines and adult children 
with their families.
    So, Grandma and Grandpa would come stay at the resort, and 
then they would have the grandkids for the day, they would 
babysit, they would go down by the beach, hang out and go 
fishing, or they would go visit the kids when the kid had a day 
off. But they didn't want to stay with the kids. They wanted to 
stay at a nice resort somewhere so they could have a nice time. 
And then when it is time to hand over the grandkids at the end 
of the day, you hand them over and then you go back to the 
resort and stay there in a nice cabin.
    So, we used to see that all the time, and if we saw it, so 
did many other places. It is not just us. And the impact is a 
very direct impact from having employed people staying by us 
because we don't see that now. It is not often that we will see 
somebody who stays at the resort because they have employees 
working at the hospital or at the Forest Service maybe once in 
a while. But mining was a very regular thing.
    So, we would see that. And my motivation for this whole 
thing is to keep a grocery store going for when I am old. I 
don't want to have to rely on Amazon.com to get my celery. I 
kind of want to have something when I am in Ely, because I am 
watching all kinds of beautiful storefronts in Ely that have 
stud walls inside. It is because there is nothing in them.
    People fix up the outside, and they are waiting for 
somebody to come and rent it. Oh boy, how many years now, 7, 8, 
9 years, they are waiting, and waiting, and waiting. It is time 
that we have something that gives solid year-round employment 
to a large body of people because we have an industry sitting 
here. It is just underground. And there is no reason why we 
can't be going underground 5,500 feet below the Earth's surface 
and mining and hauling it out. I just can't see how it is going 
to disturb anybody.
    Mr. Stauber. Thank you, Mr. Baltich.
    My time has expired. I will now turn the questioning for 5 
minutes over to Mr. Wittman from the state of Virginia.
    Mr. Wittman. Well, Mr. Chairman, thank you. And thank you 
so much for holding this hearing. We are honored to be here in 
northern Minnesota in your district. What an incredible, 
incredible place. We are just very enthralled by the richness 
of resources here, but the most amazing resource are the people 
of northern Minnesota. So, thank you so much.
    I want to thank our witnesses here today. Dr. Peterson, Ms. 
Johnson, Mr. Baltich, thank you so much. Thanks for sharing 
your perspective of things.
    Dr. Peterson, I want to begin with you. I really am taken 
by your testimony about the richness of the mineral resources 
here in northern Minnesota. You talked about the Mid-Continent 
Rift and how it is unique geologically to this area. Give me 
your perspective. You know these resources probably better than 
any other geologist on the face of the Earth. Give us your 
perspective quantity-wise as you would quantify how much of 
those non-ferrous minerals are here in this Mid-Continent Rift 
in northern Minnesota versus not just in the United States but 
maybe any other place in the world?
    Dr. Peterson. Yes. In my written testimony, I actually have 
some numbers. I don't know if you have seen those numbers.
    Mr. Wittman. We did, yes.
    Dr. Peterson. I don't have that in front of me, so I don't 
know exactly the numbers, but I know those numbers are actually 
real. They are not mine. They are actually numbers that are 
what we call an NI 43-101 report. So, it is actually the 
companies like Duluth Metals that I was involved with, and all 
these companies, Talon probably, they have to disclose 
information to shareholders because they are public companies.
    And there are rules. There are very strict rules. If 
anybody has ever had to deal with the SEC or something, there 
are very strict rules, so companies have to do this, and they 
have to actually disclose information. And those are all public 
documents. And over a long time, I can compile that information 
like anybody can. And Representative, you have those numbers, 
but I know in copper there is, defined in these resources is 86 
billion pounds of copper. And anybody can do the math, right, 
$4 a pound, it is like there it is. And those numbers are in-
situ. That is actually the amount of material in the rock 
itself. You can't mine all that unless you do an open pit, but 
if it is underground, you have to leave quite a bit of it there 
because you can't mine it all.
    But those are the numbers that are there, and all those 
numbers just represent the boundary of resources that have been 
drilled. There are a whole bunch of other areas, probably 15-20 
percent of the known kind of mineralized zone are within those 
numbers. But there is not enough information to define them.
    But there are gigantic numbers worldwide in copper, this 
type of deposit is I think the second largest, the third 
largest known kind of nickel resource of these kind of deposits 
formed from melting the mantle, which are the major sources of 
those metals on Earth. And the platinum and palladium, they are 
also gigantic numbers worldwide. And there is really nothing 
like it in the United States, anything else like that at all.
    Mr. Wittman. So, would you agree that it would be safe to 
say that the value of this resource is probably over $1 
trillion in one of the largest complements of combined non-
ferrous minerals anywhere on the face of the Earth?
    Dr. Peterson. Yes, I would agree with that.
    Mr. Wittman. OK. Let me ask this too, we talk about these 
minerals, and there is a lot of attention now on critical 
minerals in rare-earth elements. Critical minerals are going to 
be key to our future as a nation, both economically and 
strategically. If you could give me your perspective, because 
we see companies like Tesla that are already trying to get 
obligations for those minerals, give us your perspective in you 
knowing where we are today strategically with the need for 
these minerals, your perspective on the importance to the 
United States both economically and strategically.
    Dr. Peterson. Yes. We certainly saw that through the 
pandemic that the supply chain issues are real, and they are 
becoming very real in the kind of mineral commodity thing. 
There are countries throughout the world that are buying up 
mineral resources all over the globe.
    Mr. Wittman. Would it be safe to say those countries would 
include countries like China?
    Dr. Peterson. Yes, that would be safe to say. It is well 
known. They are buying all kinds of resources in Africa and so 
on, and kind of taking them off supply chains to the United 
States of America and just the Western world. So, those are 
real serious issues. And for a country like the United States, 
a very developed country, we need our own sources of minerals 
for our economy and for our national defense. Those are just 
the facts.
    Mr. Wittman. Very good.
    Mr. Chairman, thank you so much. I yield back.
    Mr. Stauber. Thank you.
    Next, we will go to Representative Tiffany from Wisconsin 
for 5 minutes.
    Mr. Tiffany. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
    What I heard from you, Mr. Baltich, is that tourism and 
industry can co-exist. Is that correct?
    Mr. Baltich. Absolutely. I believe it 110 percent. We have 
done it forever. I mean, when you think about it, we had 
unchecked iron ore mining for 88 years. There was no government 
involvement in that. And I will illustrate. In the Pioneer 
Mine, where my grandfather worked for 16 years, he built a 
cabin and the resort just kind of evolved over the years, but 
he worked for 16 years in an underground mine that was a 
particularly crumbly, wet mine.
    And they were pumping out of that mine 1 million gallons of 
water a day into Shagawa Lake, which is a lake that is right on 
the edge of Ely. Ely basically is right there. One million 
gallons a day, and that would go from Shagawa Lake, to Fall 
Lake, to Basswood Lake. That is right into the heart of the 
Boundary Waters, and from there it makes it all the way up to 
Rainy Lake, so it is in the Rainy Lake watershed.
    And that happened, and during that time there were resorts 
running and people were doing business. Everybody was fine. And 
I wouldn't recommend dumping 1 million gallons per day now, 
that is insane. But that is what they did back then, and after 
all those years they still made the Boundary Waters a secure 
area.
    Mr. Tiffany. So, your business did better while industry 
was successful?
    Mr. Baltich. I am sorry. Say again?
    Mr. Tiffany. Tourism did better while industry was 
successful?
    Mr. Baltich. It does, yes, it absolutely does better when 
industry is there because we have more exposure. Our 
advertising mass as a tourism entity goes up.
    Mr. Tiffany. If I may interject, I have a lot of questions 
to ask here. I will just interject. I own a business called 
Wilderness Cruises in northern Wisconsin over the Minocqua 
area, and we had the same exact experience. We were in the 
hospitality tourism business. For all you young folks that are 
out there listening here, this is not a mutually exclusive 
question. In regards to the environment and the economy, they 
work together.
    We have a better chance to have a clean environment when we 
have a strong economy because then you have the tax revenues to 
be able to fund those programs oftentimes publicly funded as a 
result of having a strong economy. They are not mutually 
exclusive. You were at the Eagle Mine. Did you have a chance to 
go to the Eagle Mine?
    Mr. Baltich. No, unfortunately I have not been there.
    Mr. Tiffany. I would urge everyone, if you get a chance, go 
up to the Eagle Mine in the upper peninsula of Michigan in 
Representative Bergman's district, because it is an example of 
21st century mining that can be done successfully and done in a 
perfect manner, which obviously, we don't want to do things 
like we did 60, 80, 100 years ago, and that is part of the 
reason we have such good permitting processes now. But if you 
want to see a mine that has just been built in the last 20 
years in North America here in the upper Midwest, go up to the 
Eagle Mine.
    Ms. Johnson, how was the maple syrup season this year?
    Ms. Johnson. Not as good as past years, but we just 
finished up canning. We do a very small operation, so only a 
gallon of syrup.
    Mr. Tiffany. We just passed a bill, the debt ceiling bill. 
First of all, we passed the bill a couple weeks prior to that, 
but we included in the debt ceiling bill called H.R. 1, 
lowering energy costs, and it had permitting reform in it. And 
we did not reduce any environmental standards. We just changed 
the permitting processes, but we did not change the 
environmental standards. Are you willing to live by those high 
environmental standards? Do we need to reduce environmental 
standards in order to get these projects done?
    Ms. Johnson. I would say, for our project, we are in the 
very early stages. We have not yet started our permitting 
process. We are also a bit unique because we are on state and 
private land, so we will primarily be going through a state 
permitting process with a few of the Federal permits. But, 
ultimately, our team is confident that we will be proposing a 
plan that will meet or exceed environmental standards.
    Mr. Tiffany. Mr. Peterson, in your experience, is it 
necessary to compromise environmental standards to be able to 
mine in the 21st century?
    Dr. Peterson. Absolutely not.
    Mr. Tiffany. Is it more likely for a manufacturer to build 
here, to manufacture in the United States if the minerals are 
produced here or if they are produced overseas?
    Dr. Peterson. If I was a general manager of the plan, I 
would want the minerals produced here so you have domestic 
supplies so you can actually--I mean, just go back a couple 
years in the pandemic and remember all of the boats off of Long 
Beach. There were dozens of them or hundreds of them sitting 
there waiting to unload, and they couldn't.
    Mr. Tiffany. So, we are more likely to have manufacturing 
here in this country, the downstream that is going to happen if 
we are producing the minerals here, right?
    Dr. Peterson. Yes, absolutely.
    Mr. Tiffany. Yes, no doubt about it.
    I would just say in closing, this is all about three things 
in the big picture: Job security, economic security, and 
national security. That is what is at stake here for America. 
There used to be a mine that operated in my district, the 
Montreal Mine right here Hurley, Wisconsin, closed in the mid-
1960s.
    Then-candidate John F. Kennedy went there in 1960, and he 
went deep down in that mine, thousands of feet down in his 
wing-tip loafers, and he told those miners, you were every bit 
as important in us winning World War II as the people that were 
there at the front. That is how important this is that we be 
able to produce these minerals here in America. It is a 
necessity that we are able to do it.
    Thank you very much, and I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
    Mr. Stauber. Thank you, Mr. Tiffany.
    The Chair now recognizes my friend and colleague from 
Georgia, Mr. Collins, for 5 minutes.
    Mr. Collins. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    And as me being from Georgia, I don't talk as fast as Mr. 
Tiffany. I think I should get 30 percent more time.
    You know, folks, I have only been at this job for about 115 
days now, so I am the rookie in the crowd. And when I was out 
there campaigning, I liked for folks to know that I am in the 
trucking business, one of the most regulated businesses and 
industries that there is in this country.
    So, it was very important that I wanted to make sure that 
we had oversight in every Committee that we had in Congress, to 
find out what is going on across this country, because I know 
if the regulations were hampering the trucking industry out 
there, it is across every industry that there is.
    I don't know anything about mining. I have no idea. I 
thought I was coming up here to get a hat and a pickaxe. But 
from what I have learned, you all pretty much set the standard 
for today's industry of mining, right here in this area.
    When I sit down at a hearing, I look at it from a 
businessperson's standpoint. What is the problem? What is the 
solution? And how do we fix this so that it doesn't happen 
again? So, that is what I would like to focus on.
    Mr. Collins. Mr. Baltich, you and I think a lot alike. I am 
from a small town, and I know we talked about that. I just want 
to real quickly--I mean, my questions are pretty simple.
    Do you think the permitting process now has become a 
weaponized tool used to prevent mining?
    Mr. Baltich. Yes, I absolutely do.
    Mr. Collins. Can you expand on that as far as----
    Mr. Baltich. Yes. Not to interrupt.
    It seems to me that it is taking a ridiculously long time. 
Well, actually, I can give you an idea. In 1978, the mining 
industry, and Minnesota, and the environmental groups got 
together to make us an arduous set of rules to restrict copper-
nickel mining in our area because they knew that we were 
sitting on something, and since the early 1960s, they have been 
looking at our region for copper-nickel.
    When I was a kid, I was given a little 1-inch by 1-inch 
cube of nickel, pure nickel. I have it somewhere in my 
basement. I can't find it. But I didn't know then what it 
meant, but I do now.
    And they got together and made a set of rules in 1978. And 
they said, well, if the mining industry meets all these rules, 
all these requirements, then they can mine, or then they can 
explore. And they figured nobody would ever catch up with that.
    And in 2005, mining technology went here. And all of a 
sudden, they were able to do that. And when they started doing 
that, they went to Minnesota and the groups and said, Here, we 
can hit all of these standards that you guys are requiring. All 
the requirements, we can meet them all. And Minnesota said, go 
ahead, start poking holes in the ground. Let's see what you 
find.
    And the environmentalists went off the deep end and said 
they had no leg to stand on because they all signed off on 
this. They denied signing it. They said, we didn't do that. No, 
no, no. That is not true. Blah, blah, blah.
    Well, you did sign it. So, what did they do? They moved to 
change public opinion against mining. And in 2006, they went 
after the Forest Service, and they made the mining industry--
Twin Metals put together a $1 million report that took from 
2006 to 2012 to show that the birds, and the bees, and the 
crickets, and everything is going to be fine.
    And it became a very restrictive process with suing all 
along the way, and it is all to weaponize the public opinion 
against mining. And I don't know if it is happening elsewhere 
in the world. I suspect it is. But it has become a popular way 
to do it.
    Mr. Collins. And that is exactly what I am getting at. It 
was 2 weeks ago when I was talking about the financial industry 
and our community banks. And it is all about moving the 
goalpost. Every time you get to where you think you are able to 
get the permit or you meet what is adequate for the Federal 
Government, they move it one further step.
    Mr. Baltich. Right. Oh, you need this.
    Mr. Collins. We just had this so-called infrastructure bill 
that was passed in the previous Congress, $1.2 trillion, and 
$591 billion of it actually went to infrastructure. The rest of 
it went toward the Green New Deal.
    Now, this does not make any common sense, folks. Here we 
are, we are buying our critical minerals from people that want 
to take us over and hate us. The Communist Chinese people. And 
we have mining sitting right here with the best processes in 
the world.
    Mr. Baltich, do you think that the United States can do a 
better job mining than China that is using child labor?
    Mr. Baltich. Yes, very much. It is almost kind of 
laughable. China is over there doing whatever they do, and our 
environmental groups seem to be fine with that. And I don't 
understand how you can be fine with that knowing what we know 
about China.
    And then there is a thing called the stratosphere and 
various other spheres that are running over us. Every time they 
send up a cloud of dust in China, it ends up raining down in 
the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. We get mercury from them. I am 
sure we get heavy metals and other sorts of pollutants, because 
we are on a globe and the air runs around it.
    Americans do a much better job, and I will testify to the 
Americans on the Iron Range because I know a bunch of them. 
Years ago, they used to take a D9 Cat that they were pushing 
rocks around in a mine, and it needs an oil change. It has 40 
gallons of oil in it. They would just open the spigot, dump it 
on the ground, and say, well, it keeps the dust down. And then 
they would shut the spigot and dump 40 more gallons of oil in 
that Cat. Try to find somebody today who will do that. That 
doesn't happen. It is not going to happen.
    None of our guys who mine, the employees do not want to 
mess up their backyard. This is where we hunt and fish. They 
want to take care of the environment, and so does management. 
We do an immensely better job than a lot of places in the world 
because this is our home.
    Mr. Collins. Thank you, Mr. Baltich.
    Mr. Chairman, I know my time has expired, but I think it is 
pretty easy to see that we have found the problem. It is the 
Federal Government. The solution is to get them off our back, 
and to keep them off of there, this H.R. 1 needs to be passed.
    Mr. Stauber. Thank you.
    The next Member of Congress who is going to question is my 
good friend from Indiana, Mr. Bucshon. You are up for 5 
minutes.
    Mr. Bucshon. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I want to thank 
you and the Committee for inviting me to waive on this.
    I am from southwest Indiana, and my dad was an underground 
coal miner for Peabody for over 30 years. It is a different 
type of mining, but it is similar.
    I serve on the Energy and Commerce Committee, Energy 
Subcommittee. And this issue is critically important to our 
energy future in this country.
    Ms. Johnson, maybe I can ask you. What are some of the 
common misconceptions about modern mining that has resulted in 
some environmental groups wanting to ban mining and wanting the 
Administration to ban mining in certain areas of Minnesota?
    Ms. Johnson. I think we have touched on it a few times, 
but----
    Mr. Bucshon. I think this is something we have to say over, 
and over, and over again.
    Ms. Johnson. Yes, I think it is the comparison to how 
mining was done historically. And it is just not the same 
anymore. Like we touched on, modern mining isn't allowed to do 
the things that happened long, long ago.
    And I also think a big part of it is public education about 
the entire process. For our project specifically, we are in the 
early stages. We have not yet shaped our final plans to start 
permitting. But early on, we have been trying to engage and 
educate the public on all the work that happens early on. We 
are not just submitting a plan and saying, let's go, without 
having all of the knowledge ready.
    We do a lot of work being as transparent as possible. We 
actually have an open-door policy at our project just in the 
exploration phase. So, people are able to come to our project. 
They can see firsthand how we go about exploring, meet our 
team, talk to our environmental scientists, and really get a 
better understanding of the full process. And I think that is 
what is needed.
    Mr. Bucshon. Yes. I think that is right.
    Anybody else have any comments about that?
    Dr. Peterson. Yes, I do. I mean, there is a perception that 
mining companies don't care about the environment, which is the 
farthest thing from the truth, right? All the people from the 
top on down, everybody. I am a geologist, so I have spent my 
life out in the field, and I don't know how many times I have 
been in the Boundary Waters. I love camping and fishing, and I 
just love being out in the, I just call it the bush, right? It 
is my place, the most comfortable place on Earth for me is 
actually being out in northern Minnesota.
    But there is another thing. I can just think of Talon. If 
you get this thing all defined, what are you going to do? They 
are going to go to the bank, right? We need a billion dollars. 
Has anybody ever gone to the bank and asked for a billion 
dollars? It is not a simple task.
    Mr. Bucshon. I can't say I have.
    Dr. Peterson. I mean, environmental impact statements are 
hard. But convincing a bank to give you a billion dollars is 
even harder, right? They are so risk adverse, and what do they 
ask? They ask about environmental issues. It is just engrained 
in you.
    So, people in mining actually totally get that. We have to 
do this because if we don't do this correctly, there is no way 
this project is going forward, because we will never get the 
money to actually do it. So, that is what I want to add to 
that.
    Mr. Bucshon. I have experienced this in the coal mining 
industry. Compared to the way it was when my great grandfather 
was a coal miner back in the 1930s, compared to today and where 
we are technology-wise, and also, as both of you pointed out, 
everybody in the industry lives on the Earth and they want to 
protect the environment.
    I have a big agricultural area, and another issue, 
sometimes we have things related to agriculture and farmers. 
And, again, environmental groups are critical of the farmers 
for a variety of different things. There couldn't be more 
people more strongly for the environment on the face of the 
Earth other than people that plant and utilize the soil as 
their job every day.
    So, I think one of the things that is important, I found, 
is to bring people--like this hearing, bring people. We need to 
have some of our colleagues that have a different view of ours 
come here, because unless you are there and you talk to the 
people, I find that you really can't make a good judgment.
    And I will just say this as I close. I invited President 
Obama to come to an underground mine in my district. I invited 
him personally having to come to the district for something 
else, and I invited him. And he never came. But if he would 
have talked to the workers and saw what was happening, I think 
maybe their view of the situation would have been maybe a 
little different.
    I yield.
    Mr. Stauber. Thank you very much.
    Before we get to the last speaker, I have been told that 
the buses need to pick up the students. People, if you are 
parked in a bus lane, please move your vehicle immediately. The 
buses have to get in. And if you even think you are parked, go 
double-check so the buses can safely unload the children from 
the school.
    And our last Member of Congress is General Jack Bergman 
from the great state of Michigan. Congressman Bergman, you are 
up for 5 minutes.
    Mr. Bergman. Thanks, Mr. Chairman. And thanks for inviting 
me to join you all. This is really coming back to my roots in 
so many ways.
    When my dad's family came to the United States from Sweden, 
my grandfather was actually born in the company mine clinic in 
Montreal. And Representative Tiffany mentioned that my grandpa 
was an iron miner. On my mom's side, we had relatives who lived 
and worked the mines in Hibbing for a very, very long time.
    So, for me, this is a chance to rekindle some thoughts I 
had as a young boy and as a young man as I chose professions 
and watched my friends decide what they wanted to do in life. 
But the one thing--at least the guys and gals that I hung 
around--was we all loved the outdoors.
    And by the way, I left the snow in the U.P. when I came 
here yesterday. I wanted you to know, I did not bring it with 
me. But we got a foot of new snow yesterday, and I had to cut a 
tree out of my driveway to get on the road to get over here.
    But the point is, we are all God's people. And guess who 
put all the minerals here? It wasn't happenstance. It is part 
of God's plan. But the idea that there are entities, and they 
pretty much by and large break down to governmental entities, 
who are energized by a few probably nice but clueless 
individuals who don't understand what it means to enjoy the 
environment, to do all the things we do with the environment, 
whether it is grow, whether it is mine, whether it is fish, 
whether it is you name it. But we are so blessed to live in the 
part of the world that we live in with all of its natural 
resources.
    I would suggest to you, as my colleague Mr. Collins talked 
about government being part of the problem, I think one of the 
uniting factors in Washington, DC that I have seen amongst 
moderate folks who can see both sides of the coin and in some 
cases a third edge, it is war on the Federal bureaucracies that 
control all the issues that we are talking about here, which is 
taking a permitting process and extending it past the 
reasonable length where anybody in any endeavor would say, you 
are just messing with me now. You are not actually finding any 
results.
    So, I think what we can do better at the Federal side is 
cut down the bureaucracies and get the Federal Government out 
of your pockets, off your backs, and out of the way.
    Speaking of bureaucracies, I guess what I would ask the 
panel is, you have Federal bureaucracies and you have state 
bureaucracies. Would any of you care to comment on how the 
state of Minnesota, because they are a sovereign state here, 
how they are reacting and being a partner or not as far as 
moving mining forward?
    Mr. Baltich. Well, at the governor's level, we don't have 
any support; I don't feel we have any support at all from 
Governor Walz. And he is hanging in with all the environmental 
groups against mining. He is pushing for a green industry, but 
he is not supporting mining in northeastern Minnesota. I don't 
understand how you can connect those two dots.
    We want to have electric cars, which need a lot of copper. 
The average Toyota Prius, which is a hybrid, takes 75 pounds of 
copper. I don't know how many pounds goes into an electric car 
just of nickel. I mean, when Talon gets up and running, they 
are going to do very well on all that nickel that they are 
going to need.
    But meanwhile, we don't have enough resources right now to 
do all that the Governor wants to do in a very short amount of 
time, and yet the Governor isn't supporting mining in his own 
state. As we are lining up for this big pipe dream, we could at 
least be mining in Ely and being ready to go, as opposed to, I 
am going to expound just a touch.
    The Boundary Waters Act has a paragraph that says, that is 
P.L. 95-495. It says that the President, in times of national 
need, can override the entire Boundary Waters law. And that 
means that he can go 5 miles past my house and start drilling 
where the copper-nickel is right at the surface in Lake 1 and 
just start pounding, pecking at the rocks right there and doing 
whatever they need to do because we are in a national 
emergency.
    So, does it make more sense that our governor has a mine in 
place so we are ready to mine in case of a national emergency? 
Wouldn't it be better to have the infrastructure here now 
instead of waiting until--oh, my God, we are being invaded. We 
have to go start digging up rocks and wreck everything.
    We could have the mine, we would have the infrastructure in 
place. Our governor is not doing that. Our legislature is not 
doing that. They are chasing transgenderism and gosh knows what 
else.
    Dr. Peterson. Can I add for a second here?
    Mr. Bergman. So, what I heard you say--now, I am a Marine, 
so I am very--you know, two-syllable words. Don't confuse me. 
Give me the color crayons you want me to use. In case any of 
you engage in these inter-service cultural jokes.
    But what I just heard you say is that what we are trying to 
do as the Federal Government, the leadership--let's put it this 
way--the people occupying the leadership positions in Minnesota 
right now still could be part of a problem ongoing when it 
comes to unraveling the ball of string and pulling out the bad 
pieces so that we can get moving forward.
    Dr. Peterson or Ms. Johnson, would either of you care to 
comment from your perspective on your interactions, let's say 
with the University of Minnesota or other state and federally 
funded institutions as you do research? Any thoughts on their 
commitment to good results in mining?
    Dr. Peterson. Yes, absolutely. From a geology perspective, 
the state of Minnesota is probably the best in the country in 
that they have funded really strong geological surveys. The DNR 
has the Drill Core Library. I don't know if you guys, it is 
unbelievable.
    A lot of the ideas behind it go way back to the foundation 
of the University of Minnesota with people by the name of 
Pillsbury and things like that. And a lot of these things that 
have happened in Minnesota is because of the Iron Range and 
because of the University Trust Fund and so on, and how much 
money, royalties the University of Minnesota made by mining 
university-owned land from the Minnesota territory kind of 
thing.
    And there were some very smart individuals at the 
university who have gone into state government preserving data. 
So, the DNR has an incredible treasure trove of geological 
data. They work extensively with the U.S. Geological Survey. 
Just our----
    Mr. Bergman. So, we have a lot of, what I heard you say, a 
lot of capabilities, a lot of understanding and knowledge that 
is based in fact.
    Dr. Peterson. Yes.
    Mr. Bergman. Not fantasy.
    Dr. Peterson. Absolutely.
    Mr. Bergman. Ms. Johnson, any closing thoughts here? 
Because my time is way over.
    Ms. Johnson. Yes. I think I would just add to what Dean has 
said. We are in that early stage of our project. So, with 
exploration, I would say we have a really good relationship 
with the DNR with our mineral exploration permits. As we move 
forward to the environmental review and permitting process, we 
are just hopeful for a science-based, fair, and timely process.
    Mr. Bergman. Well, we are the United States of America. The 
best solutions come at, by far, the local levels. And I would 
suggest to you, I think Michigan and Minnesota right now have a 
couple things in common. They have a lack of leadership in the 
State House. But I will leave that for another conversation for 
a different time. And that could probably lend us all the way 
out to 1600 Pennsylvania in Washington, DC. But we have an 
opportunity to change that here.
    So, Mr. Chairman, thank you very much for the opportunity.
    And thank you all for being here, especially all of you in 
the crowd.
    Mr. Stauber. As we conclude, I want to thank the witnesses 
for your valuable testimony and also the Members for their 
questions. Again, thank you for coming up to northern Minnesota 
and really being able to examine Minnesota's mineral wealth. As 
you have heard, there is only one other state that has more 
mineral wealth than Minnesota, that is Alaska.
    The members of this Subcommittee may have some additional 
questions for the witnesses, and we will ask you to respond to 
these in writing. Under Committee Rule 3, members of the 
Committee must submit questions to the Committee Clerk by 5 
p.m. on Friday, May 5. The hearing record will be held open for 
10 business days for these responses.
    If there is no further business, without objection, the 
Committee stands adjourned.

    [Whereupon, at 2:40 p.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]

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