PolyMet mine in Minnesota becomes NewRange Copper Nickel
PolyMet Mining and Teck Resources have finalized a joint venture to complete the copper-nickel mine that PolyMet has been developing in northeastern Minnesota
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — PolyMet Mining and Teck Resources finalized a joint venture Wednesday to complete the copper-nickel mine that PolyMet has been developing in northeastern Minnesota, and the partnership hopes to eventually build a separate mine next door in an even larger ore body that Teck controls.
The long-planned PolyMet mine near Babbitt will now be known as NewRange Copper Nickel, the name of the 50-50 joint venture. Combined, the joint venture's mineral resources are more than quadruple the size of what PolyMet had on its own.
Under the newly closed deal, NewRange now controls about half of the known copper, nickel, cobalt and platinum-group metal reserves in the geological formation known as the Duluth Complex, one of the world's largest untapped resources of the critical minerals.
“Successful closing of the joint venture moves NewRange Copper Nickel to the forefront of responsible development of American-sourced critical minerals for the manufacture of clean energy and clean transportation technologies such as battery storage, wind and solar generation and electric vehicles,” Jon Cherry, PolyMet chairman, president and CEO, said in a statement.
