Mining, Climate Change, & the General Mining Act of 1872

by Reese Hodges, IRU Conservation Associate, & featuring Earl Dodds, IRU Member and River Advocate

As we celebrate Earth Day 2021 and turn our focus towards climate change and how to Restore our Earth, we also face some challenging questions. How will we succeed in the transition to green technologies and protect our rivers and public lands?

Looking towards a clean and renewable energy future, minerals will play an increasing role as we move away from fossil fuels. We need minerals, that’s a fact. Therein lies the difficult challenge, how can we fulfill our renewable energy technology mineral needs without the harm, often irreversible, caused by large-scale, open-pit mining to rivers and public lands? Furthermore, the act of mining itself contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions that exacerbate climate change, both by direct fossil fuel consumption and indirectly through land disturbance and certain pollution mitigation techniques. 

So, if mining must happen for certain minerals for the transition away from fossil fuels, some important questions to ask include why, where, and how. Another critically important question is whether the lifecycle of the project to extract minerals for renewable energy technology will have a net positive or negative effect on greenhouse gas emissions. The mining industry is responsible for 4 to 7% of greenhouse gas emissions globally.

Beyond climate change considerations, we must also ask, what are the short and long-term environmental costs of the project? This is especially important when considering large-scale mineral extraction projects on public lands, which are held in the public trust for present and future generations. Our federal land management agencies, the BLM and USFS, have mission statements that call for sustaining the “health, diversity, and productivity” of these lands. 

The challenge that these land management agencies face is that their mission statement and our national climate goals come at direct odds with an antiquated law; the General Mining Act of 1872, which places a significant burden upon federal agencies and the public, while minimizing regulations and maximizing profit for mining companies.

How can we balance climate goals, including the Biden Administration’s infrastructure plan, with the transition from a fossil fuel to a clean energy economy? Earl Dodds, retired Big Creek District Ranger and 2019 IRU Member of the Year, shares some thoughts on reform of the 1872 Mining Law to help finance such initiatives. 

The Stimulus Package and Reform of the 1872 Mining Law.

 Reference President Joe Biden’s speech on Friday January 22, two days after the inauguration, when he talked about things that needed immediate attention from the White House. High on the list was the need for a large Stimulus Package for the financial relief of the millions of citizens who have lost their jobs as the result of the pandemic and in many cases are so hard up that they are unable to provide proper food for their families. There are stories of kids going to bed hungry.

 President Biden intends to give this situation his immediate attention although he recognizes that the country is in bad shape financially.  We are nearly broke and what we would be doing constitutes passing our debts on to generations of future Americans, many of whom are yet to be born.

 Now let’s consider a partial solution to this situation - much needed reform of the antiquated 1872 Mining Law.   This law that has been on the books for 149 years does not require payment of royalties for the mining of hard-rock minerals from public lands.  We just give gold and other valuable minerals away free of charge courtesy of the 1872 Mining Law.  This is in contrast to the removal and uses of other public resources such as timber, grazing, oil and gas, sand and gravel and commercial recreation businesses such as outfitting and guiding, and ski area operations.  All of these businesses pay a fee for operation on public lands so why not hard-rock mining? The mining law needs to be changed to provide for the payment of royalties to the US Treasury consistent with other extractive uses.  These royalties could help considerably with the current budget crunch that the President and the Congress are rightly so concerned about.

 How much money are we talking about?  I wouldn’t dare put a dollar figure on this other than to say that it is one heck of a lot.  As an example, let’s look at the situation with the Stibnite Gold mine project in the boondocks of central Idaho that is currently going through the NEPA process.  The mining company, Midas Gold, a company that has never mined before, is telling their stockholders that as a result of an extensive core drilling program they have determined that there are four million ounces of gold to be mined at Stibnite.  The current price of spot gold is around $1,850/oz compared to the $20/oz price in 1872 when the mining law was passed.  Even a modest royalty is a lot of money.  This estimate is just for one mine of which there are a considerable number in the western part of the US and Alaska.  This mining without paying has been taking place for 149 years!  It’s time for a change. The mining industry has been ripping off the American public for far too long!  Too bad that it has taken the COVID 19 disaster to bring it to public attention.

 I sincerely hope the Biden Administration will seriously consider reform of the 1872 Mining Law.

 Earl Dodds

Earl Dodds served as the Big Creek District Ranger on the Payette National Forest for over 25 years from 1958 until his retirement in 1984. In his retirement he has written a collection of short stories related to his experiences as a “back county” district ranger. In 2019, he was recognized as the IRU Member of the Year for his efforts as a volunteer and river advocate.