Millions invested into researching possible manganese mine in small Minnesota town
EMILY, Minn. — A recent discovery could bring a new kind of mining to cabin country. Geologists are reporting a massive discovery of manganese in the town of Emily.
It isn't a treasure hunt anymore — a team of geologists says they were given a map with a giant "X" that dates back to the 1950s.
"(The potential is) Huge. It's just huge. This is the highest grade manganese deposit in North America," said Rick Sandri, an executive of North Star Manganese.
Manganese is a mineral that's used to reinforce steel and make lithium-ion batteries.
North Star Manganese is a newly formed company that's already pumped in $6 million into researching the site. Sandri says there's no doubt the manganese is down there, the question is whether it's viable to build a mine.
"We're going to have to go back and drill more to figure out the structure of the ground underneath, 300 to 400 feet below us, in terms of its ability to be a safe mine for people," Sandri said.
Economists estimate the global manganese market is worth more than $20 billion and growing. The mineral, though, is 100% imported in the U.S., despite it being an element that could appear in rocks almost everywhere.
The Minnesota Department of Health, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the University of Minnesota all track manganese in the state, but mostly because of its health risks, especially if too much of it seeps into the groundwater.
According to state health officials, ingesting high levels of manganese could lead to memory loss and other cognitive issues in both children and adults.
Emily residents like Dan Brennan say they have a lot of questions, which is why he helped organize the Emily Mine Information Group, a grassroots effort to find answers on their own.
"The water that feeds our well comes from an aquafer that overlays the deposit out at the proposed mine site," Brennan said. "This is a recreational economy and a well-developed one, the Brainerd Lakes Area. Stick a mine in the middle of it, what does that do? This is a place where there is some good water and what are you going to do to protect that?"
Brennan says he's in touch with North Star Manganese and Sandri says he's as transparent as he can be, and the research being done now is part of the effort to answer everyone's questions. It will just take time.
"If you want a green economy, you've got to be able to provide material that will allow us to get into a green economy," Sandri said.
The proposed mine in Emily would only need state approval. The formal requests for that are still about a year away.