U.S. Representative Pete Stauber (R-MN) announced Wednesday on social media this his resolution to repeal the Biden administration’s 20-year mining ban on 225,504 acres in Northern Minnesota’s Superior National Forest has passed.
Stauber called the mining ban “illegal” and added, “The Iron Range mined the iron ore that helped this nation win two World Wars and I am confident we’ll responsibly mine the critical minerals that will allow us to compete and win in the 21st Century.”
Stauber added that his legislation, if passed by the Senate, “will protect Northern Minnesota jobs, strengthen national security through domestic production, and prevent future overreaches from happening again.”
U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) responded to Stauber: “You conveniently left out that this newest ‘push’ means selling out the Boundary Waters. It lets a Chilean mining company extract our minerals and ship them overseas to be processed in China – while polluting our most pristine waters in the process.”
Note: The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is a vast wilderness in the Superior National Forest of northeastern Minnesota — more than 1 million acres of forests, glacial lakes, and streams — located at the Boundary Waters, which is administered by of the United States Forest Service.
Smith added: “This isn’t over and I’m going to fight like hell to defeat this in the Senate. Minnesotans have been crystal clear: Not this mine. Not this place.”
You conveniently left out that this newest ‘push’ means selling out the Boundary Waters.
It lets a Chilean mining company extract our minerals and ship them overseas to be processed in China – while polluting our most pristine waters in the process. https://t.co/7Z0qWr1IsB
— Tina Smith (@SenTinaSmith) January 21, 2026
Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA) also spoke against Stauber’s resolution. On the House floor he said: “The Boundary Waters draw more visitors than any other wilderness in the country. Millions of Americans have paddled and fished, swum, found solace among its pristine lakes and forests. It supports a multibillion-dollar outdoor economy, thousands of jobs, and a way of life passed down for generations.”
Huffman called out the Chilean company by name: “Twin Metals, owned by Antofagasta, a Chilean mining company with close ties to China, has been lobbying to set up a mine outside the wilderness area, along the banks of waters that flow north directly into the wilderness. The type of mining Twin Metals has proposed has a 100 percent track record of toxic pollution. 100 percent. There has never been a mine of this kind that did not leach toxic pollution.”
Huffman added: “And despite what the other side of the aisle might tell you, there’s no guarantee that the precious minerals produced from this mine would stay in the U.S. and benefit the American economy or American national security. Antofagasta sends most of its minerals to China, where they’re sold on the global market—likely the same fate for these minerals if this mine is allowed to happen.”
As seen in the 2022 video below, Huffman has been advocating for the protection of the Boundary Waters against mining for years.
Mining at the Boundary Waters puts the environment, jobs, and local economies in peril from disastrous impacts of inevitable mining accidents. Thank you, @BettyMcCollum04 for testifying on your bill to protect this pristine ecosystem. #SaveTheseWaters pic.twitter.com/WjPzY1Ubda
— Rep. Jared Huffman (@RepHuffman) July 13, 2022