Metallic Minerals Lease Sale
Results of State Metallic Minerals Lease Sale
October 24, 2012
The bid opening for the state's 33rd sale of metallic minerals exploration and mining leases was held on October 24, 2012. There were a total of 31 bids. One of the bids (by MMG USA Exploration LLC) was in Aitkin County, nine bids (by DMC USA LLC) were in Lake County, and the remaining 21 bids (by Encampment Minerals, Inc.) were in St. Louis County. The bids covered about 9,509 acres in the lease sale acres, including about 240 acres in Aitkin County, 4,469 acres in Lake County and 4,800 acres in St. Louis County.
Detailed information about the bids is available in the Bid Information Summary, available for download below:
The State's Executive Council (comprised of the state's five constitutional officers) must approve the issuance of the leases. At its December 6, 2012 meeting, the Executive Council deferred action on the leases pending a decision by the Minnesota Court of Appeals on a citizen petition requesting an environmental assessment worksheet for the lease sale. The Minnesota Court of Appeals issued its ruling on September 9, 2013. The court concluded that the State’s sale of mineral leases does not by itself trigger environmental-review requirements under the Minnesota Environmental Protection Act and related rules because the leases do not contemplate definite, on-the-ground physical changes to the environment. The court noted that an environmental assessment worksheet and/or an environmental impact statement may be required in the future with regard to the exploration and mining of leased parcels.
When a meeting date is scheduled for the State Executive Council to consider approval of the leases from the October 2012 public lease sale, the meeting date, time, and location will be posted on this website.
Additional information about mineral leasing can be found on our State Mineral Leasing, Exploration, and Development FAQ as well as at our nonferrous metallic minerals webpages.
Note: The Division of Lands and Minerals office in Hibbing has maps and reports on Minnesota's mineral resources, as well as drill core and exploration reports available for inspection. To arrange for a time to visit the DNR Drill Core Library, please contact Doug Rosnau at 218-231-8468. Questions relating to geology and mineral resources or other topics, please contact Barry Frey at 218-231-8450. We also recommend our public access to minerals data web site: http://minarchive.dnr.state.mn.us.
If you have any questions about the lease sale, please contact Susan Damon at 651-259-5961 or
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