U.S. Gives Public Lands Away for Pennies

WASHINGTON, DC, May 11, 2004 (ENS) - The U.S. federal government has given mining companies millions of acres of federal lands at extraordinarily low prices, a year long investigation of federal data and records on hardrock mining operations has found.

The study, "Who Owns the West?" by the Washington, DC based Environmental Working Group (EWG), was released Monday on the 132nd anniversary of the 1872 Mining Law, which continues to authorize the land transactions investigated by the research organization.

The investigation reveals a "taxpayer rip-off of epic proportions," said EWG analyst Dusty Horwitt.

The first example on a long list occurred in the ski resort town of Crested Butte, Colorado, where land in town can sell for $100,000 for one-tenth of an acre. On April 2, Crested Butte residents discovered that the federal government had sold 155 acres near the town to the Phelps Dodge mining company for $875 despite a Phelps Dodge estimate that the land could produce up to $158 million in after-tax profits over 11 years.

The town of Crested Butte, Colorado (Photo courtesy Crested Butte Mountain)

EWG researchers synthesized 125 million federal records into a detailed analysis showing taxpayers - literally - who owns 9.3 million acres of the American West, tract by tract, company by company, and nation by nation.

The analysis reveals that for as little as $0.84 an acre, more than 28,000 companies and individuals have gained control of precious metals and minerals on 5.6 million acres of claimed public land and 3.7 million acres of patented public land across 12 continental Western states.

None of them will pay anything to the federal government for the value of the minerals they extract from public property.

Ninety-four foreign owned corporations from 10 countries have gained control of metals beneath one of every five acres of claimed lands in the United States - an estimated 1.2 million acres of public land altogether.

Six of the top 10 claimants are foreign owned companies, ranked by number of mining claims held.

The Newmount Mining Corporation, based in Denver, tops the list. It has claimed some 347,000 acres of public land.

The number two claimant is Placer Dome Inc. of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, while number three is Rio Tinto, Ltd. of Melbourne, Australia.

The Cortez gold mine is 70 miles south west of Elko, Nevada. The operation is owned 60 percent by Placer Dome Inc and 40 percent by Rio Tinto. In 2001 the Cortez complex produced 1.188 million ounces of gold and is considered one of the lowest cost gold producers in North America. (Photo courtesy Canadian Institute of Mining)

ASARCO, a subsidiary of Grupo Mexico, based in Colonia Roma Sur, Mexico holds the number eight position. All the rest are held by U.S. entities.

The EWG study finds metal mining accounted for 46 percent of pollution reported by all industries in 2001, but comprised just 0.36 percent of the number of industrial operations.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that mine wastes contaminate 40 percent of western headwaters, and that taxpayers will shoulder a $35 billion cleanup bill to remediate a half million abandoned mines in 32 states.

"The United States has given away millions of acres of its public lands, often for less than a dollar per acre," Horwitt said. "In return, mining interests have left polluted lands and rivers that cost taxpayers billions of dollars to clean up."

The interactive report can be found here.

It allows visitors to use regional, state and local maps to find the location of mining lands as well as their owners.

In California, the report shows that private mining interests control 635,000 acres of public land - an area almost the size of Yosemite National Park.

In Arizona, private mining interests control more than 641,000 acres of public land - an area more than half the size of Grand Canyon National Park.