Minneapolis, MN – A Native American tribe has asked a Minnesota federal court to disregard a mining company’s objections to a magistrate judge’s order compelling it to produce nearly 500 documents related to a land exchange dispute, arguing that it failed to establish attorney-client privilege claims.
The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians urged the court Tuesday to deny PolyMet Mining Inc.’s attempt to pause the magistrate’s discovery decision, saying the company must produce previously withheld information in the tribe’s bid to undo the land swap for copper and nickel mining. The Ninth Circuit has paused the decision as the company appeals the order.
The federally recognized tribe’s brief contests PolyMet’s opposition to what the Fond du Lac Band describes as a “straightforward document request” served more than a year ago regarding PolyMet’s conveyance of 759 acres of federal land to Northshore Mining Co.
The tribe argues that PolyMet has wrongly asserted an “equitable defense,” claiming the tribe’s suit is not valid, and now refuses to share information revealing how the company concealed the conveyance transaction from the public.
