Miner says rules hurt industry

Friday, Nov. 30, 2001 | 10:35 a.m.

The president of the National Mining Association is asking administrators of public lands to support revisions to current policy that would enable miners to do more prospecting.

Jack Gerard, president and chief executive officer of the association, addressed about 300 geologists, engineers and administrators of the Bureau of Land Management at its Solid Minerals Conference in Las Vegas Wednesday.

Gerard was critical of rulemaking enacted last year that gave the secretary of the Interior broad authority to deny exploration on public lands, even after a mining company had complied with all administrative and environmental regulations.

"The rulemaking created a new power to veto new mines at the last minute that was the same as a decree of expulsion for the American mining industry, the world's most advanced," Gerard said in a keynote address at the conference.

"It meant that investments of millions in prospecting, exploration and development could be wiped away almost at a whim," he said. "It was a textbook-grade example of deterrence."

Gerard's presentation was important for the mining industry because it was the first address to the Solid Minerals Conference since the change in presidential administrations.

The Solid Minerals Conference occurs every other year and enables BLM officials to discuss policies on a variety of public land issues regarding minerals as well as oil and gas resources and sand and gravel operations.

Brenda Aird, a BLM group manager in Washington, said the conferences give BLM administrators the opportunity to discuss laws and policies that affect the mining industry, considered to be Nevada's No. 2 economic engine.

Aird said the BLM considers itself to be "the balancers" between industries that develop mineral resources and environmental organizations that want to preserve land and wilderness areas.

Gerard said he is encouraged that the mining industry will be allowed greater access to public lands under the Bush administration and that Interior Secretary Gale Norton has been receptive to reviewing policies that have excluded mining companies from potential reserves.

Gerard said it can take five to 10 years to clear the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act and obtain the necessary permits and 10 to 20 years from discovering minerals to having a mine in production.

"The harm of the process is in its length, its lack of clear objectives and its open-ended nature," Gerard said. "It is filled with redundancies and conflicts."

The process has discouraged some mining companies from pursuing development in the United States, pushing some to pursue reserves in foreign countries.

"The chief executive of an international company based in the U.S. put it (this) way when he announced the cessation of exploration here," Gerard said. "He simply said America has made itself inhospitable to the opening of new mines.

"And I've heard a smaller operator go more to the point. He asked, 'Why would I want to discover a deposit in the United States and go bankrupt trying to get it permitted?' "

Gerard said the industry would support payment of a 5 percent royalty fee on minerals taken from public lands, which would raise an estimated $150 million a year. Some of those proceeds, he said, could clean up hazardous mining sites.

Pete Culp, assistant director of minerals, realty and resources for the BLM in Washington, said the BLM invited Gerard to address the conference to get a business perspective on land policy. He said the BLM supports Norton's "four C's policy: consultation, cooperation and communication, all in support of conservation."