Local View: For some, there could never be enough proof mining is safe From the column: "Don't be fooled. The proposed legislation isn’t about making mining better; it’s about stopping it in its tracks by adding decades to an already lengthy and robust science-based process." Written By: Max Motley | × A PolyMet executive explains how the company will use rod mills to crush metal-bearing rock as part of the process of extracting copper, nickel and other metals from the mine. (2013 file / News Tribune) New and unnecessary legislation emerged at the Minnesota Capitol in January, led by Duluth’s new Sen. Jennifer McEwen, demanding “proof” that nonferrous mining — copper-nickel and precious-metals mining, in this case — has been done safely before allowing new mining to be developed in Minnesota.