Changes urged in perception of mining

Speakers at a mining industry gathering in Salt Lake City Monday said Congress and the public need to be more educated about mining's contributions to the U.S. economy and national security.

"Increasing dependence on foreign sources of mineral resources at a time of growing competition from developing nations . . . while fighting the war on terrorism, we can no longer leave it up to radical, anti-mining, anti-development, nongovernmental organizations, activists courts and anti-mining bureaucrats," U.S. Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., said during the keynote of the annual meeting of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration.

Gibbons said only 8 percent of mineral exploration money is spent in the United States, down from a high of 20 percent in the early 1990s.

"The hard truth is, folks, the United States is viewed as a poor choice to put money at risk by the investment houses that supply capital to this industry. Imagine that. The United States is regarded as a high-risk environment in which to make a mining investment. And the reason for this assessment is obvious. The public servants charged with management of our nation's mineral resources have become mining's worst enemies," Gibbons said.

"The fact is, over the last two decades, mining law has continued to be misinterpreted and misapplied by the Department of Interior, and the lawyers and management at Interior have developed and enforced what I call obscene rules and regulations meant to misconstrue citizens' rights to explore and mine on open federal lands.

"Radical nongovernmental organizations opposed to all forms of development, aided at times by many of the agencies of the federal government, have tenaciously tried to eliminate mining in this country."

Gibbons said Congress must be made aware of the importance of better mining and mineral policies.

Jack Gerard, president and chief executive officer of the National Mining Association, said one challenge is overcoming a "perception gap" that exists between the public and the Washington "opinion leaders." Most of the public is not anti-mining and believes mining can be done in an environmentally responsible way, but that's not the case in Washington, he said.

"That's why I believe the one issue that is as equally important as a new national minerals policy is our ability to talk persuasively about what we do," Gerard said. "The issue is really what face we present to the world, the credibility we are able to muster on behalf of our opinion leaders and the value we're perceived to add to our society, and ultimately the values we stand for."

Gerard urged the industry to be "patient and vigilant" but also be neither Pollyanish nor defeatist.