“The U.S. Forest Service on Wednesday proposed a 20-year ban on mining in Minnesota’s Boundary Waters region, a step that would block Antofagasta Plc’s Twin Metals copper and nickel mine project.”

“ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Minn. – Cleveland Cliffs has announced it has entered into a definitive agreement with Arcelor Mittal to acquire all of the operations of Arcelor Mittal and its subsidiaries. The deal is worth roughly $1.4 billion.”

"The debate over the economic future of Northeastern Minnesota is often pitted as a choice between encouraging more mining or prioritizing tourism. The Center of the American Experiment often explains why this dichotomy is false because mining helps boosts the local tourism industry by injecting more money into the local economy.

However, if you believe it must be either mining or tourism, the recent outbreak of COVID-19 and the associated closure of businesses deemed “non-essential” by the Walz administration should make the choice blindingly obvious: the mining industry is essential, the tourism industry is not."