Public meetings scheduled to gather comments on proposed metals mine

Two public meetings will be held next month on a proposed copper, nickel, cobalt and precious metals mine near Hoyt Lakes in northeastern Minnesota.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans one meeting in the Twin Cities area and another near the site of the mine.

The first meeting will take place Dec. 9 in Aurora, and the second will be held Dec. 10 in Blaine. Both meetings start at 7 p.m. with an open house starting at 5 p.m.

PolyMet Mining Inc. wants to build an open pit mine and use part of a former taconite processing plant to construct a new facility. A draft Environmental Impact Statement on the project is available on the DNR Web site, and people have until Feb. 3 to comment on the proposal.

The Environmental Impact Statement must be approved before PolyMet can build the mine.

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