1.1 	A House concurrent resolution
1.2 	expressing the sense of the Minnesota House of Representatives concerning the use 
1.3 	of Minnesota mineral resources as key components of technically advanced energy 
1.4 	and telecommunications devices.
1.5 	WHEREAS, Minnesota has been a leading mining state since the iron ore was first shipped 
1.6 	from the Vermilion Range in 1884 and remains the largest producer of taconite and iron ore in the 
1.7 	United States almost 140 years later; and
1.8 	WHEREAS, the mining industry contributes greatly to Minnesota's economy, shipping over 
1.9 	$4,000,000,000 worth of minerals in 2018, according to the United States Geological Survey, and 
1.10 	provides high-wage jobs to thousands of Minnesotans; and
1.11 	WHEREAS, Minnesota's mining industry has provided $759,000,000 in accumulated revenues 
1.12 	from mining leases to support the state and county governments, the School Trust Fund, and the 
1.13 	University Trust Fund; and
1.14 	WHEREAS, in addition to iron ore, of which half of the reserves in Minnesota remain to be 
1.15 	mined, Minnesota also has proven reserves of other essential nonferrous minerals, including 
1.16 	manganese, copper, nickel, cobalt, titanium, platinum, and vanadium, the mining of which may not 
1.17 	be economic under current prices; and
1.18 	WHEREAS, scientific advances in many sectors of the modern economy, including 
1.19 	telecommunications, computers, electronics, and renewable energy technologies such as solar 
1.20 	panels, wind turbines, and batteries for electric vehicles, require the use of iron and the nonferrous 
1.21 	metal resources available in Minnesota; and
1.22 	WHEREAS, while Minnesota's cobalt reserves have been estimated to be 1,000,000 tons, 
1.23 	foreign supplies of these metals may be mined under conditions that raise harrowing questions 
1.24 	regarding human rights, such as reports of child labor in the Republic of Congo's cobalt mines, 
1.25 	which provide 70 percent of the world's cobalt; and
2.1 	WHEREAS, metals mined in foreign countries are often not subject to the stringent 
2.2 	environmental regulations that operate in Minnesota, putting mine workers and communities and 
2.3 	natural resources located in close proximity to mining operations at risk for exposure to toxic 
2.4 	chemicals deposited on the land and in the air and water from mining activities; NOW, 
2.5 	THEREFORE,
2.6 	BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the State of Minnesota, the Senate 
2.7 	concurring, that Minnesota's manufacturers of technologically advanced products, and companies 
2.8 	that purchase them, including energy utilities, are strongly encouraged to conduct research into the 
2.9 	origin of the products and materials that are part of their supply chains and to endeavor to support 
2.10 	products made using Minnesota-mined minerals and that the State of Minnesota support research 
2.11 	into technologies that, as with the taconite pelletizing process, enable economically marginal mineral 
2.12 	resources to be fully utilized.
2.13 	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives is 
2.14 	directed to prepare an enrolled copy of this resolution, to be authenticated by his signature and 
2.15 	those of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Chair of the Senate Rules and 
2.16 	Administration Committee, and the Secretary of the Senate, and transmit it to the Governor.