In an opinion piece in the July 29 edition of the Duluth News Tribune, Minneapolis-based conservative think tank Center of the American Experiment shared some of the findings from its forthcoming report “Unearthing Prosperity:”

“In it, we estimate the potential boost to Minnesota’s gross domestic product from proposed copper and possible titanium mining. We estimate that developing these resources would increase the state’s GDP by $3.7 billion annually. That’s the economic equivalent of hosting 10 Super Bowls every year. This would support approximately 8,500 jobs with total wages of $635 million. And this would add approximately $198 million in tax revenue for state and local governments.

“According to data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, each job in mining and logging generates an average of $447,603 annually in gross value. On this measure, it is Minnesota’s second-best-performing industrial sector after financial activities.

“In leisure and hospitality, on the other hand, each job generates an average of just $47,986 in gross value, making it the state’s worst-performing sector. Yet, since 2000, Minnesota has lost 23.5 percent of its mining and logging jobs and increased the number of jobs in leisure and hospitality by 18.9 percent.”

This report and related opinion piece counters one from the left-leaning Center for Progressive Reform, which points to a 2017 study claiming copper-nickel mining would cost northeastern Minnesota $288 million a year in lost revenue from visitor spending, $509 million in decreased property valuation.