HC 6

as introduced - 92nd Legislature (2021 - 2022) Posted on 03/08/2021 10:22am

A House concurrent resolution
expressing the sense of the Minnesota House of Representatives concerning the use
of Minnesota mineral resources as key components of technically advanced energy
and telecommunications devices.

WHEREAS, Minnesota has been a leading mining state since the iron ore was first shipped
from the Vermilion Range in 1884 and remains the largest producer of taconite and iron ore in the
United States almost 140 years later; and

WHEREAS, the mining industry contributes greatly to Minnesota's economy, shipping over
$4,000,000,000 worth of minerals in 2018, according to the United States Geological Survey, and
provides high-wage jobs to thousands of Minnesotans; and

WHEREAS, Minnesota's mining industry has provided $759,000,000 in accumulated revenues
from mining leases to support the state and county governments, the School Trust Fund, and the
University Trust Fund; and

WHEREAS, in addition to iron ore, of which half of the reserves in Minnesota remain to be
mined, Minnesota also has proven reserves of other essential nonferrous minerals, including
manganese, copper, nickel, cobalt, titanium, platinum, and vanadium, the mining of which may not
be economic under current prices; and

WHEREAS, scientific advances in many sectors of the modern economy, including
telecommunications, computers, electronics, and renewable energy technologies such as solar
panels, wind turbines, and batteries for electric vehicles, require the use of iron and the nonferrous
metal resources available in Minnesota; and

WHEREAS, while Minnesota's cobalt reserves have been estimated to be 1,000,000 tons,
foreign supplies of these metals may be mined under conditions that raise harrowing questions
regarding human rights, such as reports of child labor in the Republic of Congo's cobalt mines,
which provide 70 percent of the world's cobalt; and

WHEREAS, metals mined in foreign countries are often not subject to the stringent
environmental regulations that operate in Minnesota, putting mine workers and communities and
natural resources located in close proximity to mining operations at risk for exposure to toxic
chemicals deposited on the land and in the air and water from mining activities; NOW,
THEREFORE,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the State of Minnesota, the Senate
concurring, that Minnesota's manufacturers of technologically advanced products, and companies
that purchase them, including energy utilities, are strongly encouraged to conduct research into the
origin of the products and materials that are part of their supply chains and to endeavor to support
products made using Minnesota-mined minerals and that the State of Minnesota support research
into technologies that, as with the taconite pelletizing process, enable economically marginal mineral
resources to be fully utilized.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives is
directed to prepare an enrolled copy of this resolution, to be authenticated by his signature and
those of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Chair of the Senate Rules and
Administration Committee, and the Secretary of the Senate, and transmit it to the Governor.