On a pine farm north of the tiny city of Tamarack, Minnesota, Talon Metals has uncovered one in every of America’s densest nickel deposits—and now it desires to start tunneling deep into the rock to extract a whole lot of 1000’s of metric tons of mineral-rich ore a 12 months.

If regulators approve the mine, it might mark the place to begin in what this mining exploration firm claims would turn into the nation’s first full home nickel provide chain, working from the bedrock beneath the Minnesota earth to the batteries in electrical autos throughout the nation.

MIT Know-how Overview wished to supply a clearer sense of the regulation’s on-the-ground affect by zeroing in on a single mission and analyzing how these wealthy subsidies might be unlocked at every level alongside the availability chain. Check out what we came upon.

—James Temple

That is the second story in a two-part collection exploring the hopes and fears surrounding a single mining proposal in a tiny Minnesota city.

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