Talon Nickel Mine - Background, Opinion

Nickel is a mineral needed for electric cars and other green technologies, and there's a large deposit of nickel in northern Minnesota.  Two previous attempts to permit a nickel mine in the Lake Superior and Boundary Waters failed due to water quality concerns; the Talon mine is smaller and in a different watershed - the Upper Mississippi. 

For background on the project, check out this post on MinnPost.  "What you need to know about the Talon Metals plan to mine metals for EVs in Minnesota"
This post is from 2023, when the project was first proposed and does a good job of laying out the initial proposal.  

The Minnesota DNR has initiated work on the Environmental Impact Statement for the project.  This webpage provides information on the EIS and includes a sign up to get update emails on the project.  There are three parts to the EIS process: EIS scoping, EIS preparation and EIS adequacy. This review is in the scoping phase; much work is ahead.  The EIS is prepared by the DNR, the bill for the work is paid by the project proposer, Talon Metals.  

Photo - Minnesota DNR

Changes to the project:
Recently, Talon Metals proposed significant changes to the project that are detailed in an article in the Minnesota Star Tribune on December 20, 2025.  Talon Metals, the company proposing an underground nickel mine near Tamarack, Minn., has backed away from a novel plan that would have used a subway-digging machine to carve an underground loop to reach the ore.

Instead, Talon, which hopes to one day supply the materials for Tesla’s electric-vehicle batteries, will dig a straight path down to those minerals. The revised environmental assessment worksheet filed Dec. 12 incorporated public, state and tribal feedback, said Jessica Johnson, the vice president of external affairs for Talon.  “We’re reducing the amount of ground disturbance and the amount of rock that we need to handle and manage,” Johnson said.

By no longer using a tunnel-boring machine, Talon has sidestepped early concerns from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources about waste rock, potential contamination of water and an untested technology for mining. But building a single, diagonal shaft underground also means that Talon will be blasting rock closer to the surface, at 100 feet below as opposed to 300 feet below.


Opposition to the project from the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe:
Among those with concerns about the project, the Mille Lacs Band is speaking out.  Here is a December 29, 2025, Letter to the Editor from Virgin Wind, Chief Executive of the Band.  

Why Minnesota’s water future matters for everyone
The Mille Lacs Band, in its concern about the proposed Tamarack nickel mine, is standing with all Minnesotans who understand that our fates are intertwined. 

As we look toward a new year, the wisdom of our ancestors feels particularly relevant. Indinawemaaganidog — this Ojibwe term, meaning “all my relatives,” captures a truth that runs as deep as the Mississippi’s waters: We are all connected — past to present, people to land, community to community. Raised by my grandparents, and now a grandparent myself, I’ve learned that our most profound responsibility is not to our immediate moment, but to the generations that will follow.

My grandmother taught me the art of birchbark crafting as a child, passing down a traditional practice and a fundamental understanding of our relationship with the land. That first $2.40 I earned from crafting tiny canoes came with teachings about respecting our resources and our responsibility to each other. The birch trees that once flourished in our forests have become scarce — a reminder of how quickly we can lose what nature has taken centuries to create. This loss carries a powerful lesson: We don’t inherit the land from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.

This lesson is a guiding principle for me as the newly elected chief executive for the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, and I am particularly concerned about our clean waters being threatened. Once pristine waters are contaminated, they cannot be restored. Once underground aquifers are compromised, they cannot be replaced. What happens in this watershed flows downstream, touching every community along the river’s path across 40% of the continental U.S. — Native and non-Native alike.

This interconnectedness is why the proposed Tamarack nickel mine isn’t just a Mille Lacs Band concern — it’s a watershed moment for all Minnesotans. The mine’s location threatens the Mississippi River and St. Croix River basins, putting critical drinking water sources, habitats and surrounding communities at risk. And for our people, this isn’t only about protecting resources — it’s about preserving our forever home.

International polluters like Talon Metals/Rio Tinto have not proven their methods are safe for our interconnected ecosystem. That’s why the Mille Lacs Band has created Water Over Nickel, an initiative to protect Minnesota’s people, natural resources and cultural sites from the negative impact of nickel mining. We are not opposing progress — we’re advocating for progress that considers all our relations, including future generations. Why must this mine be placed in the Upper Mississippi River basin, where its impacts could flow through countless communities? There are alternatives. We get only one chance to protect these waters for our children, their children, and so forth.

Our collective wisdom proves we’re stronger when we prioritize long-term community welfare over short-term environmental risks. The health of our water doesn’t recognize boundaries between tribal and state lands — its vitality or degradation affects us all equally.

Protecting our waters is a Minnesota issue, a human issue and a national issue as the Mississippi River runs to the Gulf of Mexico. After the nickel is extracted and the company moves on, our communities — all of us — will live with the consequences for generations. Every glass of clean water drunk by a child in Minneapolis, every grain of Manoomin (wild rice) harvested from Sandy Lake, every walleye caught in Lake Mille Lacs, and every paddle dipped in the river’s flow depends on the choices we make today about projects like the Tamarack mine.

The story of the Mille Lacs Band demonstrates both the strength and fragility of our connections. Our resilience through generations of challenges comes from understanding that our well-being is tied to the health of our environment and our relationships with neighboring communities. When short-term profits are prioritized over long-term community welfare, it threatens the heritage of the non-removable Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe.

Indinawemaaganidog reminds us we are all relatives in this struggle to protect our shared waters. We can find a better way forward, one that respects the deep connections among our communities, our resources and our shared future. The Mille Lacs Band, through Water Over Nickel, is standing with all Minnesotans who understand that our fates are intertwined. We hope all Minnesotans will help us protect our waters with the knowledge that, in doing so, we are protecting each other and the generations to come.
Virgil Wind is chief executive of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe.