Twin Pines Minerals, the company waiting for more than a year for a permit to mine near the Okefenokee Swamp, has agreed to sell its land in south Georgia to The Conservation Fund for $60 million, according to the organization.
The deal ends the threat of mining near Georgia’s ecological treasure that is home to a vast array of wildlife biological species and that acts as an important hedge against climate change. The deal is the product of three years of negotiations with the Alabama-based company and the nonprofit group that acquires land to protect it from development.
The Current has previously reported about Twin Pines’ mounting financial troubles that delayed its mining plans in Georgia, as well as growing public opinion against the mine. The company is fighting two lawsuits that could cost it $30 million. It also was paying off $15,000 of its 2024 property tax bill to Charlton County, where it planned to strip-mine for titanium and zirconium in the mineral-rich ridge of land east of the Okefenokee.
Earlier in June the state agency in charge of mining permits, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, told The Current that Twin Pines had failed to present the state with a $2.1 million bond as financial assurance.
This spring, state Republican lawmakers blocked legislative efforts to prohibit mining activity near the Okefenokee, despite opposition among many state GOP leaders. Many critics, including the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, argued that plans to mine titanium dioxide would likely disrupt the swamp’s water flow, risking drought and fire in the largest wildlife refuge on the East Coast.
Although negotiations between The Conversation Fund and Twin Pines have run hot and cold for years, during the last nine months the two parties conducted “intensive negotiations,” according to Stacy Funderburke, vice president of The Conservation Fund.
“Trying to figure out if we could get a path forward, really trying to race ahead of a permit being issued, too,” Funderburke said. “It’s been a pretty long and drawn-out process and very difficult negotiations along the way, but I’m really excited that we could bring it to a conclusion.”
Around 40% of the purchase was finalized Friday, Funderburke said, with the full deal expected to finish on July 31. The contract has the conservation group buying the 600-acre mining plot, the mineral rights for the land and all of Twin Pines land holdings in the area.
Twin Pines did not immediately comment about the sale.
The Conservation Fund credited One Hundred Miles, the Coastal Georgia-based conservation group, for helping to bring funders and partners to the deal.
“The purchase eliminates the threat we have been fighting since 2018, when [Twin Pines’] proposed their mining operation,” Alice Keyes, a vice president of One Hundred Miles said in a statement. “It is a victory made possible by the hundreds of thousands of Georgians and advocates from across the country who have spoken up, time and time again, to defend our beloved swamp.”
Now with the swamp defended against mining, the Conservation Fund said it will turn its focus on protecting the whole 350,000 acres of swamp.
A 2024 report commissioned by the group underscored how the swamp drives economic development in the region. It found that over 800,000 people currently visit the Okefenokee each year, spending $91.5 million in Ware, Charlton, and Clinch Counties.
“We’re always thinking about the long-term conservation outcome of the property itself. So we’ll work towards a conservation outcome for the entire property, but that’s going to take longer, and so, you know, hopefully a portion will get added to the refuge,” Funderburke said. “So that is absolutely our goal for the entire property, but we’re in that one step at a time.”
The land sale protects the swamp from the risk posed by Twin Pines, but there’s still more mineral rich land along Trail Ridge. Rena Peck, executive director of Georgia Rivers, said the move will pave the way to conserve more land, including an ancient earthen dam that maintains water levels within the swamp and serves as a crucial wildlife hub recognized as a priority area for conservation in Georgia’s State Wildlife Action Plan.
“We can’t protect the Okefenokee Swamp without protecting Trail Ridge,” Peck said. “Georgia Rivers will continue to advocate to protect the 25,000 acres at risk of mining north of the former Twin Pines.”
The news of the land deal brought immediate praise from Georgia’s Democratic Sen. John Ossoff.
“This step toward protecting the Okefenokee Swamp is great news for all Georgians and our beloved natural treasure,” Ossoff in a statement. “For years, I’ve been sounding the alarm that strip mining near the Okefenokee Swamp poses irreversible damage to an irreplaceable natural resource.”