Why U.S. General Mining Law Still Serves the Nation

What You Need to Know:

• Mineral demands are skyrocketing. Duplicative and punitive updates to the General Mining Law will deepen our mineral import reliance, and increase our reliance on metals and materials from China and unfriendly or deeply unstable regions.
• May marks the 150^th anniversary of the U.S. General Mining Law, which governs hardrock minerals exploration on federal lands.
• The Mining Law is not an environmental statute; it is complemented by a full suite of environmental regulations on both the federal and state levels that provide comprehensive protections.
• As policymakers reflect on the anniversary of the General Mining Law, adding new regulations and fees to U.S. mining will do nothing to protect the environment, and everything to obstruct U.S. competitiveness.

Letter From The President and CEO:

This month the U.S. General Mining Law celebrates its 150^th anniversary. The law governs how hardrock minerals such as copper, gold, silver, lithium, cobalt, zinc, nickel, rare earths and other minerals are accessed and produced on federal lands. These minerals and others are essential to batteries, electric vehicles and other technologies that will help the U.S. advance its bold climate goals.

With mineral demands skyrocketing, some policymakers on Capitol Hill are introducing legislation that would add new duplicative regulations and punitive fees to U.S. minerals mining, endangering U.S. competitiveness and our future energy transition. The proposals from Congressman Grijalva (D-AZ) and Senator Heinrich (D-NM) are extensions of previously failed attempts to impinge on U.S. mining’s access to federal lands and to place new fees or royalties of up to 12.5 percent and eight percent on new and existing mining operations, respectively.

This legislation would obstruct President Biden’s stated goals to reestablish U.S. mineral supply chains and assert U.S. leadership in the clean energy future. The U.S. has become dangerously dependent on imported minerals from unstable regions of the world. In 2021, this list included materials from countries including China, Russia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Instead of impeding domestic production, policymakers should take steps to make U.S. minerals mining more competitive, increasing the domestic production that already occurs under world class environmental and labor standards. Despite claims to the contrary, the General Mining Law is complemented by exhaustive federal and state environmental, ecological, reclamation and financial assurance laws and regulations to ensure that operations fully protect public health and safety, the environment, and wildlife.

As we commemorate the 150^th anniversary of the general mining law we should remember how the law has served the nation’s economic and national security interests, providing the necessary minerals and metals for our growing economy. Policymakers should build on its success, enabling future generations to benefit from our abundance of mineral resources.

Through bipartisan efforts, our country can regain control of our economic, national and energy security without jeopardizing the mining foundation of our country. Read our latest blog to learn how.

Thank you,
Rich Nolan