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Minn. court suspends PolyMet's key permits for NorthMet copper project

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Minn. court suspends PolyMet's key permits for NorthMet copper project

The Minnesota Court of Appeals suspended PolyMet Mining Corp.'s two key permits for its NorthMet copper-nickel project following a challenge by environmental activists, the Associated Press reported Sept. 20.

According to the report, PolyMet's dam safety and mining permits, issued in November 2018, were put on hold ahead of an Oct. 23 hearing, where the state's Department of Natural Resources must address whether it should conduct a review of the project's dam, which was similar to the one that collapsed at Vale SA's Feijao iron ore mine in Brazil in January.

The court also raised the need for the agency to include Glencore PLC in the permits. In June, Glencore AG agreed to increase its stake in PolyMet to 71.66% from 28.81% by fully exercising its basic subscription right in PolyMet's US$265 million rights offering.

PolyMet argued that the agency already published a review in August that outlined the design differences between its proposed dam in Minnesota and the one in Brazil, the report said.

According to the news agency, the court already suspended PolyMet’s water quality permit in June pending a probe into the handling of the permitting process.

In August, the Minnesota State Supreme Court refused to hear a petition for review by groups that wanted a supplemental environment impact statement on the project.