1872 Mining Law: time for an update?
Congress considers imposing new royalties on minerals and stricter environmental rules.
from the May 16, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 3
In a statement anticipating Rahall's bill, National Mining Association president and CEO Kraig Naasz said, "NMA is committed to playing a constructive role in development of a fair, predictable, and efficient national minerals policy through amendments to the Mining Law." This could include a "fair return to the government in the form of a net income production payment for minerals produced from new mining claims on federal lands."
But an 8 percent royalty, NMA spokeswoman Carol Raulston told the Associated Press, "could be very punitive to the industry."
Budget watchdogs like Taxpayers for Common Sense have joined environmentalists in urging a new law to regulate hardrock mining.
But while Democrats now control the House and Senate, reforming the 1872 Mining Act is not a slam-dunk. Nevada, home state of Senate majority leader Harry Reid, accounts for 87 percent of US gold production. Outside the gambling centers of Las Vegas and Reno, mining is the state's largest employer, with jobs averaging more than $63,000 in annual wages.
Senator Reid, whose father was a hardrock miner, is in no hurry to do anything that would upset the industry.
Still, says Jane Danowitz, director of the Pew Campaign for Responsible Mining, "We believe that this Congress offers Americans the best opportunity in more than a decade to ensure that modern mining is regulated by modern law. Mining in the 21st century should not be governed by a 19th-century law."
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