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Mining Legislation Reform
The General Mining Law of 1872 is an antiquated statute that allows mining companies to take valuable hardrock minerals including gold, silver, and uranium from public lands without royalty payment to the taxpayer -- unlike other mining industries that extract coal, oil or natural gas. Signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant, the law not only gives away public minerals, but it also offers public land for sale at $5 an acre -- 1872 prices.
Because the Mining Law also contains no environmental provisions, taxpayers are often left to clean up the mess that companies leave behind. Hundreds of thousands of abandoned hardrock mines litter the American west that will cost $32 to 72 billion to clean up. And taxpayers are potentially liable for billions more in cleanup costs at currently operating mines.
Over 131 years later, the law is still in effect and applies to over 270 million acres of federal land. This land area constitutes almost one-fourth of all the land in the United States, or two thirds of the lands the federal government holds in trust for all Americans.
For more information, please contact:
Techa Beaumont
Executive Director
Workphone: +61 2 9557 9019
Mobile: +61 (0) 409 318 406
Created: 13 Oct 2004 | Last updated: 13 Oct 2004
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