Minnesota grapples with nickel mining impacts as EV manufacturing raises demand

Fred De Sam Lazaro:

From carnival games to the parade down Main Street, the annual Hey Days Festival in Tamarack, population 62, is meant to be fun, a chance for neighbors to get caught up, a chance for kids to pick up candy that is sure to pour out of the parading vehicle.

This year, two of those vehicles are all-electric Teslas, each bearing sharply conflicting messages that cut to the heart of the escalating tension in this region over whether to extract nickel, a mineral currently seeing strong demand in the electric vehicle market.

Many people in Northern Minnesota proudly boast that it was iron ore extracted from the ground here that the fed America’s steel industry, that built the country, that helped it win two World Wars. The question today is whether this region can play a similar role in the transition to a post-fossil fuel age.

Brian Goldner, Chief Exploration and Operations Officer, Talon Metals: So, this is one of the highest samples I have ever seen, and certainly the highest sample I have ever held.