The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is to begin an action of 621 parcels of land for mineral leases on Thursday. This is in spite of landowner concerns regarding the issue. The opponents of the process feel that the state is allowing too much prospecting too fast and there may be severe repercussions.
The supporters of the mining industry in the state say that the leases need to be auctioned off to access the untapped mineral resources of the state. Doing so will create jobs and improve the economic situation by getting increased taxes and huge royalties to pay for infrastructure like schools, roads and more.
Land owners such as Ron Brodian who began his Great Lakes School of Log Building in 1975 near Isabella had handpicked the remote location. Now he says that his neighbours and he were disgusted at the prospect of the damage, noise and pollution that they would be seeing in the region within the year. He added that they were also frightened about their well waters being impacted by the exploration under their lands.
Unfortunately the mining leases that the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will auction off this week will allow the companies to prospect for precious metals across northern Minnesota, even if the owner of the surface land disagrees. While the winning bidder must negotiate with Brodigan for access, state laws generally favour mineral rights over surface rights, meaning Brodigan can't simply say no to the mining companies.