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December 6, 2009

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Governors, mines launch effort to speed up reclamation of old mines

Friday, June 6, 1997 | 5:47 a.m.

Nevada Gov. Bob Miller, representing the governors, said in signing the agreement Thursday that the cooperative venture will be funded by member companies of the NMA that are going to provide an initial outlay of $500,000.

The start-up funds will be used to do a survey and determine the scope of the problem, said Miller, adding that most of the old mines probably are in Nevada, Utah, Arizona and Colorado.

Miller also said individual states have tackled the problem in the past, but have had funding problems because of the extent of the potentially dangerous sites.

"This provides the necessary resources and expertise to see it through," he added.

NMA chairman Douglas Yearly said the initiative is "an excellent example of the kind of progress that can be made when industry, government and the public work together."

In addition to the survey, the plan calls for efforts to remove any legislative or regulatory obstacles to abandoned mine cleanups.

The plan also calls for possible development of an Internet database with information on technologies to reclaim abandoned mines.

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