Hi fellow jewelers, As direct recipients of benefits from mining
practices, we should all read, consider and inform our congressmen of
our views on this bill. If you care for my opinion, I have
experienced both sides of thi s issue. For 30 years my husband and I
benefited from old mining laws as th e land we owned in the midst of
public lands was 60 acres of patented mining claim. As a jeweler who
uses both raw and fabricated gold I (we all) benefit from plentiful
cheaper gold. Having lived downstream from a newly activated,
arsenic-extraction mine, I was directly impacted as we pumped our
water from the river. As a responsible person, I do not care to
benefi t at the expense of the well being of the environment and all
that means. I am willing to accept the cost (more expensive gold) for
bringing mining laws into the 20th (if not the 21st) century at last.
I’ve read bill HR226 2 and support it whole hearted
Here’s a link with more info about the bill:
http://www.earthworksaction.org/2007MiningReformBill.cfm
Marianne Hunter
http://www.hunter-studios.com
Now if we could just get everyone on Orchid to actually participate
in getting this bill passed and the disseminated
throughout any organization or association one may belong to, that
would potentially have some impact.
I will personally take on contacting Mary Landrieu-D LA. Though a
senator, she is highly interested in water quality and natural
resources protection acts, as well as effluency from metals mining
operations and their regulation. I urge each of you to personally
contact politicians in your areas to act on this important bit of
legislation. Even if you are, like me, anti-political, or
politically agnostic…Please help keep waterways safe for wildlife
and people, both at their sources and as they flow. In addition to
restricting mining operations in the United States towards a cleaner
planet for generations that follow. Our business, art and science as
jewelers will continue uninterrupted as a result of the passage of
this bill, and I personally see no effects in an economic sense that
this bills’s passage will have on the cost of gold, unless one is
actively minning a claim for their own use or resale.
Dr. R. E. Rourke, Esq. JD
a list of minning companies in the US can be obtained from the US
Office of Surface Mining http:// www.osmre.gov
Dear Orchidians,
FYI : the mining reform bill HR2262 The Hardrock Mining and
Reclamation Act of 2007 has passed 244 to 166.
Marianne Hunter
http://www.hunter-studios.com
FYI : the mining reform bill HR2262 The Hardrock Mining and
Reclamation Act of 2007 has passed 244 to 166.
Being from Colorado this at first blush looks like good news. There
are thousands of abandoned goldmines in the Colorado Mountains. I
remember years ago when I was living in Denver one old abandoned mine
near Central City had some sort of collapse that released this
supposedly non toxic rush of bright orange colored water in to Clear
Creek which flows through the Denver metro area. The creek was bring
orange for 3 days. Still today there are many old mine shafts that
are not secured and every now and then a curious person will be
killed when the ground gives way and they fall into the shaft.
Sometimes it is too dangerous to attempt a recovery of the body.
But them there is reclaimation gone amuck. The Leadville area was a
toxic mess with the leaching fields and abandoned mines of the silver
mining boom. The reclamation was so thourough and sweeping it changed
the geologic landscape and ruined many prime collecting spots for
rock hounds.
Rick Copeland
Silversmith and Lapidary Artisan
Colorado Springs, Colorado
rockymountainwonders.com
If this passes both houses, as is, and the president signs, I’m glad
I’m not a mine owner or miner. Wonder how this will affect small
claims owners and exploration. Operative phrase “as is”. I read a
summary of the bill and thought there were good updates, but then
some very vague language that may make it almost impossible for those
hardworking miners (large and small) today to keep their jobs.
Don’t get me wrong. I think mine owners and small claim owners need
to respect the land and people. But after hearing the woes of miners
and rock hunters in certain circumstances, this may lock it all up
and throw away the key. I’ve never seen or heard of anyone seeing any
of these congress people at any rock show, talking w/ the regular
folks. How many have actually gone to mines, abandoned and working?
Have they REALLY done their homework on this?
The question is, where is the middle ground, here? Clean up the
abandoned, yes, definitely. Require clean up of proposed closures,
yes, definitely. Require ongoing clean up of working mines/claims,
perhaps. Require tribal/pueblo dispensation for mining (I think that
already exists)(can’t hunt rocks on tribal lands), yes. Compensation
for sacred land use, yes. (One problem is that there is argument
among tribes, still to this day, of who lived on what land, when).
Does this bill prohibit private land owners from mining? Couldn’t
find that in the summary. Does this mean the fed will close more land
to exploration? Who’s going to be the oversight group, BLM?
I plan to call my congressman to answer these details. If you’re
interested, just google Mining Bill H.R.226 and go to all of the
sites that come up. It’s really very interesting and worthwhile to
those of us that love minerals and use them in our daily lives.
Kay Taylor
With the greatest respect for all who contribute to this forum and
who read along as I do, I would like to direct your attention to this
article from The Elko Daily Free Press, which is my home town
newspaper:
http://tinyurl.com/258uuu
The Carlin Trend is the fourth largest gold producing area in the
world. Our local economy will be DEVASTATED if this bill is passed by
the Senate and signed into law. For those of you who are concerned
about working conditions and the ethical sourcing of your materials,
please keep in mind that Nevada produced gold IS ethically produced.
Mining jobs are highly prized in our community because the pay and
benefits are EXTREMELY good. The mines also help support our
community infrastructure and educational systems. Please be assured
that there is considerable state and federal oversight of mine sites
to ensure safety for workers and the environment. I implore all of
you to really consider what passing this law would mean to mining
communities – and not just for gold – across the country. I would
like to stress that ALL elected Nevada representatives are AGAINST
the passage of this bill.
Please feel free to contact the Elko Daily Free Press for more
The most recent Mining Quarterly published by the
newspaper focused heavily on this issue. I was told they would be
happy to send it out to interested parties.
Thank you so much.
www.jessicavburnett.com
Just out of curiosity what is the nature of this bill?
Dave Owen
All
H.R. 2262, the Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2007 is, I
believe, the conversation at hand. H.R. 226 during this session is to
normalize carrying concealed weapons between the states under federal
law.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:HR02262
should you care to read further on the mining bill.
An exciting read for those who care to do it. I do not see an
appreciable possibility for impact to the hobbyist, so far.
Terry