New Mexico Geological Society Annual Spring Meeting — Abstracts

Basic industries, such as mining, are not understood by the majority of the American populous. Because of this lack of knowledge, mining and the basic industries are under legal and political attack. This paper will fIrst, examine the specific areas that are under attack; second, examine the facts which can be mobilized to counter the attack; and fmally, speculate regarding possible outcomes.

The General Mining Law or the 1872 Mining Law is the current legislative banleground for mining related issues. Opponents of the mining law charge: 1) the law should be abolished because it is old; 2) the mining law has outlived its purpose -the settlement of the West; 3) the patenting of mining claims is a "give away" of public resources; 4) allowing mining claims to be developed without payment of a royalty is yet another raid on the public's resources; and 5) the mining law does not provide suffIcient environmental and land use planning protection for public resources.

Each of these charges can be answered quite directly. However, there are other factors at work, including the aforementioned lack of knowledge regarding the mining industry and its place in modern economies, that may vitiate the effects of the factual answers to the que~tions posed. It is time to consider the next round of change which will bring the mining law into balance with existing legal and societal norms. More importantly, it is time to consider what steps may be taken to assure that society is informed regarding the facts regarding mining and the implications of those facts to their daily lives.