News

Minnesota Building Trades News Release
December 9, 2009

St. Paul, MN - On behalf of its 50,000 members, the Minnesota Building Trades Council today announced its support for PolyMet Mining Company's proposal to mine copper, nickel and precious metals in Northeastern Minnesota.

"The Minnesota Building Trades Council is proud to support PolyMet Mining Company's proposal," said President Harry Melander. "This project will be built thanks to the expertise and hard work of more than 300 skilled trades people and will create hundreds of good-paying jobs.

"Our members will benefit from the construction jobs PolyMet will create," he said. "And all Minnesotans will benefit from the minerals the company will provide."

PolyMet proposes to build a $600 million mine and processing facility for copper, nickel, platinum, palladium, cobalt and gold. The project will require 1.5 million work-hours of construction labor. Once fully operational, PolyMet will employ about 400 people with an annual payroll of about $40 million. An additional 500 spin-off jobs will be created in St. Louis County alone.

"While these construction jobs are important to us, we could not in good conscience support this project if we believed it would harm our environment," Melander said. "PolyMet has demonstrated that it can mine and process these minerals, create hundreds of jobs, and maintain our environment."

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are soliciting public comments on a draft Environmental Impact Statement for the PolyMet project. Once the draft is approved, permits can be issued.