2009 Montana Mining - Montana Mining Association

Worked closely with the Montana Mining
Association and NWMA members active in
Montana to convince the Montana
Department of Environmental Quality to
oppose a rule that would have required
all mines in Montana to demonstrate at
the time an operating permit was granted
that the mine could be fully reclaimed
with no active or passive water treatment
required within two years after the last
ore was extracted. In announcing
Montana DEQ’s opposition to the proposed
rule, Montana DEQ cited the problems
and reasons raised in NWMA’s comments.
Worked with the USFS Washington, DC
office to ensure that draft Environmental
Impact Statements do not include a
detailed discussion of bonding or bond
calculations.
Produced White Papers (1) demonstrating
that the environmental provisions of the
House Mining Law bill (H.R. 2262 now
H.R. 699) are solutions in search of a
problem that doesn’t exist; and (2) chronicling
the evolution of federal and state
reclamation bonding requirements for
hardrock exploration and mining projects,
in order to document how state and
federal regulators, working with industry,
have used existing regulatory authorities
to respond to shortcomings in the reclamation
bonding program.
Never an organization to rest on its past
accomplishments, here are but a few of the
current issues NWMA is presently working
on, on behalf of its members:
CASTINGS, FABRICATION, MACHINING AND FIELD CONSTRUCTION
1015 East Sixth Street, Anaconda, MT 59711
Phone: 1-406-563-8494 • Toll Free: 1-800-782-3326
Visit us on the web: affcomfg.com
38 Montana Mining 2009
Mining Law – In addition to its work
opposing H.R. 2262 (the Rahall bill) in
2007, NWMA is working closely with the
National Mining Association (NMA) and
other industry groups to oppose H.R. 699,
The Hardrock Mining and Reclamation
Act of 2009 and the recently introduced
Mining Law bill (S. 796) in the Senate by
Senate Energy & Natural Resources
Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-
NM). H.R. 699 is identical to H.R. 2262.
We are working to produce a Mining
Law alternative to H.R. 699 and S. 796 that
would ensure a viable domestic mining
industry. We are providing an on-theground
voice for the junior mining company
and exploration sectors of the U.S. mining
industry, to ensure that any revisions to
the Mining Law do not overly burden
exploration and development and that
access to mineral deposits on public lands
is protected.
Our priorities include preventing
unnecessary withdrawal of lands from mineral
entry; retaining the right of self-initiation
and the current mining claim system;
establishing an abandoned mine land fund
to address historic abandoned mines; ensuring
that one has the right to use and occupy
a mining claim for purposes reasonably incident
to mining from entry through closure;
ensuring that any royalty or production payment
is fair, both to the American public
and the mining industry; and ensuring that
claim location and maintenance fees
remain reasonable, and do not become an
impediment to exploration.
Economic Recovery – NWMA is working to
educate the Administration, Members of
Congress, the media and the public that
mining is indispensable to economic
recovery and energy independence; that
historically, mining has led the nation out
of recession and is poised to do it again;
and that mining provides an economic
stimulus package that doesn’t require
deficit spending or cost tax payers a dime.
Arizona Strip – NWMA has retained
Mountain States Legal Foundation and
intervened on behalf of its members in
Center for Biological Diversity v
Kempthorne. This lawsuit seeks to compel
the Secretary of the Interior to withdraw
more than one million acres from mineral
entry. The area contains more than 40
percent of known U.S. uranium deposits.
NWMA opposes the withdrawal and seeks
to have the Federal Land Policy and
Management Act’s (FLPMA) emergency
withdrawal regulations declared unconstitutional.
More information about these issues can
be found on NWMA’s website at
www.nwma.org. The website is kept up-todate
with the latest news about issues affect
the domestic mining industry. NWMA has
proven to be an EFFECTIVE and RESPECTED
association working hard for you as we provide
a much needed on-the-ground voice.
There is no better proof of this than the testimonials
of some of NWMA’s members:
“Hecla belongs to NWMA for three main
reasons: Interaction with great prospectors
and exploration companies who have activi-
Ernest K. Lehmann & Associates
of Montana, Inc.
Mineral exploration
Deposit development
Consulting to the mineral industry
Contact Ernest Lehmann at:
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