Jessica Johnson, vice president of external affairs for Talon Metals, shows a core sample rich in nickel at the company shop in Tamarack, Minn., on Oct. 9. (Aaron Brown/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

In early plans, the mine resembled ones we’ve seen before, with overburden piles exposed to rainwater that would gradually leach chemicals. Last year, the mine redesigned its plans so that everything from the trucks emerging from underground to the trains that haul off the ore remain enclosed indoors. Waste rock is distributed back underground, greatly reducing environmental risk.

“What our team hopes is that we show we are actively listening,” said Jessica Johnson, the company’s vice president of external affairs. “That might not be enough for everybody, but we hope people see we’re trying.”

Trying is important. The public needs that from mining companies as much as they do the minerals.

Right now, the demand for critical minerals is rising with a technological tsunami of renewable energy, artificial intelligence and ever-more-sophisticated electronics. Scheyder said his research shows only three ways forward.

“Either the United States or other nations have concrete discussions about how we get more of these minerals, or we recycle more, or we use less,” said Scheyder. “It seems like some kind of mix of all three is the way we’ll move forward here.”

In Hibbing, where iron ore consumed and rebuilt a whole village, a historical lesson was learned. Leaders must negotiate on behalf of the public, or private interests will have their way. In the years preceding the move of Hibbing, Mayor Victor L. Power (yes, brother of W.P.) held mining companies to account for polluting the water supply and insisted they pay their share of property taxes for schools and parks in the new village.