Mining threat near Okefenokee ends

Environmental group buys property from Twin Pines Minerals

The sun sets over water lilies and cypress trees along the remote Red Trail wilderness water trail of Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in April 2022. An environmental group, the Conservation Fund, announced Friday, June 20, 2025, that it had agreed to buy the Twin Pines Minerals’ property. (AP file photo)

Okefenokee file — The sun sets over water lilies and cypress trees along the remote Red Trail wilderness water trail of Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in April 2022. An environmental group, the Conservation Fund, announced Friday, June 20, 2025, that it had agreed to buy the Twin Pines Minerals’ property. (AP file photo)

ATLANTA — The Alabama company that planned to mine titanium dioxide next to the Okefenokee Swamp has agreed to sell its property to an environmental fund, ending — for now — a threat to more than 350,000 acres of designated national wilderness that is home to several endangered and threatened species. The Conservation Fund announced Friday that it had agreed to buy Twin Pines Minerals' property on Trail Ridge near the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, ending a six-year effort to protect North America's largest blackwater swamp.

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