American job growth impacted by outdated mineral permitting process

The Oregonian reported this week on the decrease in mining investments in the United States due to the inefficient permitting process, noting that it can take an average of seven to 10 years to obtain a permit to develop a mine on federal land.

“If we could improve the permitting time line, we would see more investment in the U.S. mining industry,” said Mark Compton, a spokesman for the Northwest Mining Association. “That would lead to more jobs, as well as decreasing our dependence on foreign sources of minerals.”

The piece also cited a Metals Economics Group report indicating that only 8 percent of worldwide spending on minerals exploration occurs in the United States.

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