UNDATED-AP- Congressional Republicans are sending President Donald Trump a resolution for his signature that would lift a federal ban on mining near Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The Senate passed the resolution Thursday (April 16, 2026). The House approved it on Jan. 21, 2026 . The push to end the ban comes as a Chilean mining company is looking to open a copper mine in the Superior National Forest on the edge of the wilderness area. Conservationists insist mining would contaminate the pristine watershed. President Joe Biden’s administration blocked the project in 2023 by imposing a 20-year moratorium on mining across 400 square miles (103,600 hectares) in the forest. ...read more read less