Defense Department awards $20.6 million to proposed nickel mines in Minnesota and Michigan

By STEVE KARNOWSKI
Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Department of Defense has awarded $20.6 million to developers of the proposed Talon nickel mine in Minnesota under a program to strengthen domestic supply chains for critical minerals. The defense funds will support prospecting work in Minnesota and Michigan. They follow a $114 million grant by the Department of Energy last year to help build Talon Metals’ ore processing plant in North Dakota. Talon says it will use the money to accelerate its efforts to find more high-grade nickel deposits, primarily in Upper Michigan. The federal support stands in contrast to the Biden administration’s efforts to block two other copper-nickel mining projects in Minnesota.