Francisco Awad
Chief Project Officer
At our core, we are as much a Minnesota company as we are a mining company. All of our team members live and work in Minnesota, and take great pride in building upon the state’s rich mining history. For more than 130 years, the mining industry has supported families in this region.
For generations, Iron Rangers have pursued careers in the industry to power communities, put food on tables and send children to college. Twin Metals Minnesota has supported its staff members, local communities and contract workers for more than a decade. When the mine becomes operational in the future, we will support hundreds of full-time employees for many years to come.
Since our creation in 2010, we’ve provided more than $550,000 in financial support to a variety of community organizations, including:
As for the project itself, we’ve already invested $450 million, with an expected $1.7 billion through construction of the mine. It’s not just our company that we’re investing in. It’s our future, the future of northeast Minnesota.
From modern mining to environmental safety to advanced technology, our project has quite a story to tell — yesterday, today and tomorrow. See what’s up and coming.
We have a seasoned team of mining veterans with global experience. We care about safety for workers and the environment as much as anyone — this is our home, too.
Our lead geologist has led exploration in Minnesota for more than a decade. Our director of operations and safety has worked in mining his entire career and was born and raised in Ely. Our CEO has 35 years of mining experience – with a focus on underground mines – including leading Duluth Metals, the legacy company that started our project more than 10 years ago.
Our leadership at Antofagasta PLC also guides us in our commitments to worker and environmental safety. Today, Antofagasta is one of the top ten copper producers in the world — and is expecting to transition all of its existing operations to use 100% renewable energy in the near future.