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Antofagasta's (OTC:ANFGF) proposed Twin Metals copper and nickel mine in Minnesota is effectively terminated, after the Biden administration cancels two mineral leases that had been reinstated during the Trump administration. The U.S. Interior Department says the Trump-era opinion contained "significant legal deficiencies," including failures to follow department regulations related to lease renewal forms or study a no-renewal, no-action alternative during the environmental review process. Environmentalists have long feared mining would pollute the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, a 1M-acre preserve on the U.S.-Canada border. The cancellation is not a surprise in light of the plan announced last fall that would impose a 20-year ban on mining in the Boundary Waters region.