Trump DOI Renews Mining Leases Near Minn. Wilderness, Reversing Obama

"The Trump administration moved Friday to renew leases for a copper and nickel mining operation on the border of Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, reversing a decision made in the final weeks of Barack Obama’s tenure in office.

The action, made public in an Interior Department legal decision, marks a win for the Chilean mining firm belonging to the family of billionaire Andrónico Luksic, who rents a home to Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, in Washington.

The department and U.S. Forest Service had decided a year ago not to renew the leases while federal officials launched a formal review of the operation’s environmental impact. Reversing that outcome has been the subject of intense lobbying since President Trump took office. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke met with proponents of Twin Metals Minnesota, a subsidiary of the Chilean mining giant Antofagasta PLC, shortly after taking office."

Juliet Eilperin reports for the Washington Post December 23, 2017.