To the editor:

A recent letter to the editor advocated mining rare earth metals vital for electronics and solar products just outside the Boundary Waters Canoe Area because China has now restricted rare earth metal exports to the US in response to Trump’s tariffs. The BWCA is the largest wilderness area east of the Rockies and north of the Everglades with over 1200 miles of interconnected lakes.

There are no significant deposits of bastnaesite nor monazite, the minerals from which rare earth metals are processed near the BWCA. There are copper and iron ore deposits. My grandfather worked copper mines and smelters in Utah years ago. My father made leather shoes protecting his dog’s feet from blistering from the dust containing toxic arsenic, lead and sulfuric acid. It is expensive to mine safely for workers and environment.

In 2023, the Department of Interior determined “in addition to serious health and environmental risks, studies estimated a mine next to the Boundary Waters would cost the region more than $1 billion in lost income connected to outdoor recreation and travel”.

Currently, over 130 mines in the U.S. require Superfund cleanup due to severe pollution. Twin Metals, a subsidiary of Chilean mining conglomerate Antofagasta, continues to lobby to mine upstream of the Boundary Waters for iron ore and copper using extraction techniques creating sulfuric acid runoff. Trump’s approach to the environment in his own words is “drill baby drill”. We have seen the EPA’s staff gutted and rules ignored. Though Antofagasta claims sustainable practices, it’s been in court many times over spills and groundwater contamination. The Chilean billionaire head of Antofagasta has given millions to the Trump family.

Past investigations shout out that mining on the edge of the BWCA would have a devastating impact on environmental and economic features of the region. Less tangible but as important is the concept of sacred land. Would you put this mine outside the Arlington National Cemetery or next to Mount Rushmore or next to Mar-a-Lago that does have rare earth metals a little north? We should not kill the future to make people rich today.

William Richards

Walnut Grove