Proposed NewRange copper-nickel mine in Minnesota suffers fresh setback on top of years of delays

By STEVE KARNOWSKI
Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The proposed NewRange Copper Nickel mine in northeastern Minnesota has suffered a fresh setback. An administrative law judge recommended late Tuesday that state regulators should not reissue a crucial permit for the long-delayed project. The judge said the design for the mine’s waste basin won’t adequately prevent water pollution. So, he said, the Department of Natural Resources should not reissue the main “permit to mine” for the project. The next step is up to the department, which can accept or reject the judge’s recommendations or impose new conditions for reissuing the permit for the proposed $1 billion mine.