White House Loosens Land Limits for Hardrock Miners

By J.R. Pegg

WASHINGTON, DC, October 13, 2003 (ENS) - The Bush administration announced Friday that it has lifted a restriction on the amount of public land hardrock mining companies can use to process their claims. Critics contend the decision weakens regulation of mining waste on public lands, but the supporters say it reverses an erroneous interpretation of the 1872 Mining Law by the Clinton administration that has caused thousands of job losses in the mining industry.

The administration's policy and new regulations remove "unnecessary and burdensome requirements for mine operations while fully protecting the environment," said Rebecca Watson, the Interior Department's assistant secretary for land and minerals management.

"This action will also encourage a reliable supply of the critical strategic minerals that we need to support our way of life, the economy and our national security," said Watson.

At issue is the Interior Department's interpretation of the mining law's millsite provisions - a millsite is the land used for facilities and other infrastructure necessary to operate a mine. The 1872 law, which still governs mining on some 270 million acres of U.S. public lands, provides 5 millsite acres for each 20 acre mining claim.

Interior Department Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Rebecca Watson, an attorney who has helped mining companies access public lands, says the new policy will remove uncertainty for the mining industry. (Photo Interior Department)

Under the Clinton administration's interpretation, mining companies were limited to one 5 acre millsite per 20 acre claim.

But that reading of the law was incorrect, according to the Interior Department's Deputy Solicitor Roderick Walston.

In an opinion issued October 7, 2003, Walston wrote that although the law limited the size of millsites, "the provision does not expressly limit the number of millsites that may be located for a mining claim."

The rules announced to enact this opinion will allow the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to determine on a case by case basis the number of millsites required for each claim.

The administration has "restored a decades old, common sense understanding of the law," said National Mining Association (NMA) President and Chief Executive Office Jack Gerard.

Critics of the Bush decision say the Clinton interpretation of the 1872 law articulated well understood limits that the federal government had chosen to ignore. The 1997 decision did not impact existing mines, they say, and only affected economically marginal mine proposals located on federal lands.

Cyanide heaps contain thousands of tons of cyanide, arsenic, mercury, selenium, silver and other contaminants when mining ends. (Photo by Gary MowadGreat Basin Mine Watch)

The Bush administration has capitulated to "the hardrock industry's request for an unlimited legal right to dump polluting waste on our public lands," said Steve D'Esposito of the Mineral Policy Center, an environmental group focused on the impacts of mining. "This outrageous reversal directs the government to quit enforcing existing federal law."

The Bush reading of the law is in line with modern mining techniques, Watson explained, which require greater infrastructure as companies use new methods to extract small amounts of precious metals from massive quantities of rock.

"Without sufficient land to support these mines, an operating mine is technologically and economically infeasible," Watson said.

But it is some of these new mining techniques that have environmentalists concerned about the administration's decision.

Chemical leach technology, for example, uses cyanide to extract trace amounts of metal from tons of earth. Millsites are now used for dumping these massive piles of waste rock, which are often contaminated with arsenic, lead and mercury.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says the hardrock mine industry produced 2.8 billion pounds of toxic waste in 2001, including 366 million pounds of arsenic, 355 million pounds of lead and 4 million pounds of mercury.

Bush administration officials say the mining industry is held to strict environmental standards and note that all mine operations are subject to comprehensive bonding requirements to ensure funds are available to cover all environmental liabilities and to ensure that all mine sites are fully restored.

Environmentalists worry the Bush rule could allow massive cyanide laden ponds - such as this one, which covered acres near a Montana gold mine. (Photo by Gary MowadU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

Exploration is down 57 percent and mine development has dropped 54 percent, Watson explained, and the NMA estimates some 21,000 jobs have been lost at U.S. metal mining operations since 1997.

New mines can not be developed under the criteria laid out by the 1997 millsite opinion, according to Senator Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat.

"It does not make sense that only 5 acres of land should be allocated to provide facilities for every 20 acres of ore," Reid said. "That is like trying to pour a gallon of milk into a 10 ounce glass. It can not be done. Under those restrictions, new mineral resources cannot be developed on our public lands."