"These are not the best of times, but they also aren't the worst of times. Mining companies have learned to compete against foreign producers. Miners are tough people, and they can survive."
This assessment of the American mining scene came from John A. Knebel, president of the American Mining Congress, a 500-member organization that started its annual convention in the Salt Palace Monday.If mining companies look at public lands and determine there is economically feasible mineralization, then America will have a viable mining industry past the year 2000, Knebel said during an interview at the Red Lion Hotel.
Knebel said it has been 25 years since the AMC held its convention in Salt Lake City, and in that time the mining industry has been up and down three times. "I guess if we came back in another 25 years the industry will have been up and down three more times," he said.
AMC is facing some major legislative issues, Knebel said, including retention of the Mining Law of 1872, which allows people who can prove there is mineralization on some land to file for a patent and pay a fee of $2.50 to $5 per acre. He said the law has been amended many times in the intervening years, but the fees have remained constant.
Knebel said one senator has introduced a bill that would completely revamp how mining is conducted on Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service lands. He said the bill probably would preclude all mining because of the restrictions.
"We only want a chance to examine what's on the public lands, while the preservationists want to lock it up," said Knebel.
Knebel used a platinum mine in Montana as an example of the combative nature between mining and environmentalists. The mine is two miles from a wilderness area, he explained, but many people feel the mine is necessary in maintaining the country's independence from relying on platinum from other countries that might not be friendly toward the U.S. in the future.
He also touched on the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act that sets policy on how mine waste is regulated. Knebel said because states govern clean air standards they also should regulate mine waste.
"A great deal has been done with mining practices in recent years and companies have done a good job in cleaning up their act. Many of the self-styled critics show old pictures of mine problems, but their goal is to deny mining companies access to public lands," the AMC president said.
Knebel said mining companies don't mind regulation from federal, state or county government, but they don't like restraint or duplication. He said it is cheaper for mining companies to properly handle their waste initially and also deal with their other problems than it is to do it a second time.