 |
|
|
North America
The Mineral Policy Insitute has a number of partner campaigns in North America
with Earthworks, Mines and Communities and Mining Watch Canada. In the United
States, cleaning up abandoned hard rock mines and reforming archaic mineral
legislation are of major concern. In Canada, Metal Mine Effluent Regulation,
Environmental Assessment of Mining and Asbestos Mining Operations are of
major concern.
The United States 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.
Another Major issue in the United States is that there are over 557,000
abandoned mines which have never been returned to the state of their local
environment prior to the mining. Vital waterways are polluted by these abandoned
mines, many of which were built for extracting hardrock minerals like gold,
silver, copper, uranium and lead. Some of these sites now pose serious threats
to the health and safety of communities downstream.
Major issues in Canada include the harmful impact of asbestos mining which,
according to rescent research, has lead to a drmatically higher rate of
mesothelioma in Quebec, where much asbestos mining takes place than in comparison
with other areas of Canada and the rest of the world. Local groups in Canada
also continue to campaign on the issue of Environmental Assessment Regulations
which need to be more consistent, efficent, open to public particpation
and legislate for a higher quality of environmental assessment.
For more information, please contact:
Techa Beaumont
Executive Director
Workphone: +61 2 9557 9019
Mobile: +61 (0) 409 318 406
Created: 17 Sep 2004 | Last updated: 17 Sep 2004
 Print this page 
Email to a friend Return to top
|
|
|
|
|
