Mining was banned in northeastern Minnesota due to the irreversible damage it would do to the state’s fresh water. A last-minute provision to the Republican budget bill will allow a Chilean magnate with ties to the Trump family to mine the protected lands.

A last-minute provision inserted into President Donald Trump’s “Big, Beautiful” budget reconciliation bill would allow Chile’s wealthiest business magnate — and former landlord to Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump — to begin mining operations on protected federal lands. Mining at the proposed Minnesota site poses irreversible environmental risks to nearby bodies of freshwater, according to a federal environmental review.

The mining company that stands to benefit, Antofagasta, is owned by the Chilean billionaire Andrónico Luksic, whose fam

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