Twin Metals spent big on lobbying to reverse mining ban near Boundary Waters

WASHINGTON — The end of a 20-year mining moratorium in the Superior National Forest marked the culmination of a months-long fight on Capitol Hill between environmentalists, tribal leaders and a lobbying shop friendly with the president.

Political momentum shifted toward pro-mining interests earlier this year behind a concerted lobbying push, and once congressional Republicans changed tactics.

Public records show Twin Metals Minnesota paid $380,000 to the Bernhardt Group, a newly formed lobbying firm led by former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, between the second quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026

This amount is down from a high in 2022, when Twin Metals disclosed spending $730,000 on Capitol Hill lobbying, but it’s roughly twice the amount spent by its chief opponent.

According to Senate filings, Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness, an Ely-based nonprofit that also leads Save the Boundary Waters, another nonprofit, spent $190,000 on D.C. lobbying firm Cassidy & Associates over the last year.

The bill, signed by President Donald Trump on Monday, April 27, clears the way for the Twin Metals Minnesota copper-nickel mine near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW).

Its passage secures a lasting right to mine in lands that no future president will be able to undo.

For many years, Twin Metals had worked with Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck (Bernhardt’s former firm) and Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr. But last year, they switched exclusively to the Bernhardt Group, whose lobbyists also include former staff members for Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema and Utah Sen. Bob Bennett.

When Bernhardt Group opened last summer, a Washington Examiner headline declared it a “Trump ‘fluent’ influencer.”

Spokespeople for Antofagasta, the Chilean-based parent company of the mine that is traded on the London Stock Market, forwarded requests about its new lobbying partner to a Twin Metals spokesperson, who declined to comment for this story.

Initial Republican-led efforts to nullify the Superior National Forest mining moratorium hit a snag last spring when the Senate parliamentarian removed language to undo the ban — already approved by the U.S. House — in the federal budget bill. That resistance was championed by Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith.

“That was a big victory,” Smith said. “That took a lot of work.”

By January, a new approach emerged to eradicate the mining moratorium: congressional review act (CRA). Rep. Pete Stauber, a Republican who represents northern Minnesota and has advocated for copper-nickel mining on the Duluth Complex near Birch Lake, introduced a bill to overturn the mining moratorium.

Stauber’s office did not respond to a request for comment for this story. Smith called the use of the CRA “bad news” because the bill only requires a simple majority. She initially sought to upend the project’s “America First” bona fides, pointing out the global market for minerals.

“Those minerals that come from the mine should it ever be developed — and I do not believe it ever will be — will be shipped overseas and brought back to a Chinese supply chain or Chilean supply chain,” said Smith. “They won’t be owned by the United States.”

Twin Metals’ supporters dispute this claim, pointing to Canada as a likely buyer of the minerals and their advocacy for U.S. processing. On Jan. 21, Stauber’s measure passed the House 214-208, setting up a fight in the U.S. Senate, one that unfolded largely out of public view.

Smith said her fight to stave off a vote to approve mining rights in the Boundary Waters watershed was like “Lord of the Rings,” bonding together Democrats and a group of moderate Republicans who believed they could quietly avoid a vote to end the moratorium on mining near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW).

In early February, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) approved a resolution opposing the congressional review, saying a copper mine near the BWCA would violate 1854 Treaty rights and endanger water, wildlife and plant life, from loons to lynx and wild rice.

The NCAI action spurred tribes around the country to write letters to members of Congress, including a letter from the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina to Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican who is not running for re-election. A spokesperson for Tillis, who helped the Lumbee receive federal recognition last year, confirmed the letter moved Tillis to vote “no” in the Senate on April 16.

But in the run-up to the April deadline for a CRA vote in the Senate, Republicans were approached by the White House to support it, Smith said.

“Suddenly the eye of Sauron spotted us, and we were exposed in our efforts,” Smith said in an interview on April 24, a week after the vote, referring to J.R.R. Tolkien’s all-seeing antagonist.

The White House did not respond to requests for comment.

Ultimately, Smith’s persuasion campaign only picked off one more Republican — Maine’s Susan Collins, who is vying for re-election this year. Missouri’s GOP Sen. Josh Hawley did not vote.

Monday’s vote all but clears the federal roadblocks for the Twin Metals Minnesota copper-nickel mine project.

Water advocates fear a copper mine in the Boundary Waters’ watershed will inevitably pollute the pristine wilderness bordering Canada. Yet economic boosters note that over 600 United Steelworkers lost jobs last year as taconite mines were idled.

Copper and nickel are needed for electric vehicles, batteries and data centers but also national defense needs. Twin Metals is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chilean mining giant Antofagasta.

But state permits are still needed.

Bernhardt’s term as Interior secretary was marked by energy development on public lands.

Since running for Congress in 2018, Stauber has received just under $6,000 in campaign donations from Twin Metals employees, according to records from the Federal Elections Commission.

He’s a consistent and vocal supporter of the Twin Metals project. After Trump signed the bill on Monday, Stauber said the “proposed mining projects aimed at unlocking trillions of dollars’ worth of critical minerals can move forward through the proper state and federal environmental review and permitting process.”

Experts say the Twin Metals venture may still be years away because of federal and state permitting.

The stock price for Antofagasta, the nearly $50 billion copper mining company, has hovered around $50 a share after the bill’s passage. The company’s shares have doubled in value over the past year.

Its federal mining leases are still held up in a U.S. Appeals Court case in D.C. The Trump administration has said it will no longer defend the case. Given Trump’s signature on the CRA, the case is expected to be ruled moot, given that there is no longer a mining ban in the contested area.

Ingrid Lyons, executive director of Save the Boundary Waters, has said opponents will now move their attention to St. Paul, where Twin Metals will need to seek a state permit to mine.

“I think the Boundary Waters will be on people’s radars in a way that it hasn’t been a voting issue in awhile,” Lyons said.

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