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https://apnews.com/article/okefenokee-swamp-mining-conservation-fund-ca7a3f5c118d2dd6c751e7c9daca2488>
"SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A conservation group said Friday it has reached a $60
million deal to buy land outside the Okefenokee Swamp from a mining company
that environmentalists spent years battling over a proposed mine that opponents
feared could irreparably damage an ecological treasure.
The Conservation Fund said it will buy all 7,700 acres (31.16 square
kilometers) that Alabama-based Twin Pines Minerals owns outside the Okefenokee
National Wildlife Refuge in southeast Georgia, halting the company’s mining
plans.
“It’s a big undertaking, but it was also an existential threat to the entire
refuge,” said Stacy Funderburke, the Conservation Fund’s vice president for the
central Southeast. “We’ve done larger deals for larger acres, but dollar-wise
this is the largest deal we’ve ever done in Georgia.”
Twin Pines President Steven Ingle confirmed the sale through a spokesman, but
declined to comment further.
Twin Pines of Birmingham, Alabama, had worked since 2019 to obtain permits to
mine titanium dioxide, a pigment used to whiten products from paint to
toothpaste, less than 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the southeastern boundary of
the Okefenokee refuge near the Georgia-Florida line."
Via Frederick Wilson II
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
