db wrote on Jun 8^th, 2010 at 6:53am:

What's the Mesabi Trust? What's that all about and how might it figure in?

I'm not sure how this whole thing works, but it sounds like the Mesabi Trust was formed back in the 60's to acquire the land that was ultimately mined for iron. If I have it right, the trust holds title to the land while a separate operator produces from it, and subsequently pays a royalty to the trust. The trust is publicly traded:

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I don't know if this will affect the PolyMet project one way or the other, but I certainly don't have all the facts on that.

In other news, PolyMet, the EPA, the USFS and others have agreed to begin a new "Supplemental" Draft Environmental Impact Statement to more clearly address the issues surrounding potential water use and contamination. For efficiency, they have decided to combine efforts with the USFS, who would have had to do their own separate EIS as part of the land exchange / sale to PolyMet. This will be another "Draft" Environmental Impact Statement, and it will be submitted for public review just like the last one, before the final EIS is constructed and submitted to the State as part of their application for a Permit to Mine.

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This new supplemental DEIS could take a year or more to complete, so whatever your stance on the issue, don't hold your breath for a Cu/Ni/PGE mine to open in Minnesota any time soon.