The Minnesota DNR will conduct an auction starting today for the mineral rights to over 600 parcels of land in St. Louis, Itasca, Lake and Koochiching counties.
The mineral rights are owned by the state, but the surface rights are privately held. Some of the owners were surprised to learn that the right to mine their land was going to be auctioned off.
MPR's Cathy Wurzer spoke with Aaron Vande Linde, transactions manager for the DNR's Division of Lands and Minerals, to learn more about the auction.