Georgia

Legislative efforts to block a proposed titanium mine near the Okefenokee Swamp have taken a new turn.

The Georgia House of Representatives is expected to vote Tuesday on a bill declaring a three-year moratorium on acceptance of applications for dragline surface mining permits of heavy sands minerals. That’s the mining technique and type of minerals contemplated by Alabama-based Twin Pines Minerals in its plan to mine titanium oxide along Trail Ridge.

The bill follows an announcement last month that the state Environmental Protection Division (EPD) has issued draft mining permits to Twin Pines for a 700-plus-acre demonstration site in Charlton County, the first step toward opening an 8,000-acre strip mine along the southeastern border of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.

The bill would limit Twin Pines to a pilot project and restrict mining to that site until scientific data can be obtained to determine the effects of the mine on surrounding ecosystems.