ban all metallic sulfide mining near the Great Lakes and BWCAW, to protect our natural resources such as clean water.

Metallic sulfide mining has been proposed for the Great lakes region, in critical areas such as the watershed boundary between Lake Superior and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. This new mining technology has not been proven safe, and if sulfides contact air or water, they produce sulfuric acid. This is extremely risky and potentially detrimental to critical freshwater habitats and groundwater aquifers. The companies intending to mine precious metals from this region are based out of Canada, and a majority of the refining and overall profiability will not benefit the United States of America. This mining proposal jeopardizes our pristine waters while harvesting U.S. natural resources to sell at wholesale costs to Canada and Switzerland to satsify China's metal demand.