Geologist from the UK visits Twin Metals and PolyMet ahead of keynote speech

Lucy Crane is far from her home in Cornwall. But she is finding parallels to what’s happening there in the mining industry, and what’s happening in the Northland.

On Tuesday, the geologist spent time visiting Twin Metals Minnesota in Ely and PolyMet in Hoyt Lakes.

“So far it is fascinating,” she told us.

Both projects aim to mine critical minerals, but are facing steep headwinds when it comes to litigation and environmental review.

Crane said that is not the case in the UK, but they have not seen active metals mining for decades. Mining in Cornwall dates back 1000s of years.

Now, there is focus on what is needed for the clean energy future.

“Mining is often left out of the conversation about the energy transition,” she explained. “People are proud of their heritage of mining. The challenge is that people see it as part of their history, and not part of their future.”

She’s one of the keynote speakers at the third annual Better In Our Backyard annual dinner this week.

Better in Our Backyard decided to bring her in, because of the similarities to what her company, Cornish Lithium, is working on and what PolyMet is working on.

“We need to move our messaging beyond what is a good deposit. And instead, see the bigger picture, and think of ourselves as stewards of the resources,” she added.