You are here
For a pittance, miners can work public land but there's a push to make them pay
By Lisa Friedman
The New York Times
Tuesday, September 12, 2023
Since Ulysses S. Grant was in the White House, any company that mines gold or other metals from public land has been able to haul it away without paying a dime in royalties to the federal government.
As demand is spiking for copper, nickel, cobalt, and other metals and minerals that are essential for electric vehicles and other clean energy technologies, the Biden administration says Congress needs to fix the Gold Rush-era General Mining Law so it can better manage the mineral resources buried under millions of acres of public land.
... Dispatch continues below ...
... ADVERTISEMENT ...
Protect Against Inflation with Kinesis
and Earn a Yield on Gold and Silver
Kinesis is an online investment platform giving you access to fully-allocated, sound-money assets, Kinesis Gold (KAU) and Kinesis Silver (KAG). With Kinesis you hold legal title to physical gold and silver bullion at all times and pay nothing for their secure storage.
On the Kinesis platform gold and silver can be used for making everyday payments with the Kinesis Virtual Card, adding utility to the value of precious metals. On the Kinesis platform you can buy gold and silver at some of the lowest market rates across the industry and take physical redemption any time.
Kinesis offers investors the opportunity to own yield-bearing gold and silver with a return on physical precious metals holdings. With low transaction fees and fast settlement times, investors enjoy a seamless experience that puts them in control of their financial future. For more information, please visit:
A top priority: Require companies to pay something in exchange for what they take. Unlike companies that extract oil, gas, and coal from federal lands, hardrock miners pay no royalties to the federal government.
The call to impose a fee of 4 to 8% of the net value of what is mined could translate into as much as $97 million annually and draws sharp opposition from mining operators.
Today the Biden administration said the law needed to be updated to ensure the United States developed a supply of critical minerals that are "responsibly sourced" to achieve Mr. Biden's clean energy goals.
"The biggest takeaway from our report is that our 150-year-old-law, the 1872 mining law, needs to be reformed and brought into the 21st century," Tommy Beaudreau, the deputy secretary of the Interior Department, said.
Developing reliable and responsible domestic sources for critical minerals is "central to the clean energy and technology revolution that are shaping our future for the better," he said. ...
... For the remainder of the report:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/12/climate/mining-federal-lands-metals.html
* * *
Join GATA here:
New Orleans Investment Conference
Hilton New Orleans Riverside Hotel
Wednesday-Saturday, November 1-4, 2023
* * *
Toast to a free gold market
with great GATA-label wine
Wine carrying the label of the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee, cases of which were awarded to three lucky donors in GATA's recent fundraising campaign, are now available for purchase by the case from Fay J Winery LLC in Texarkana, Texas. Each case has 12 bottles and the cost is $240, which includes shipping via Federal Express.
Here's what the bottles look like:
http://www.gata.org/files/GATA-4-wine-bottles.jpg
Buyers can compose their case by choosing as many as four varietals from the list here:
http://www.gata.org/files/FayJWineryVarietals.jpg
GATA will receive a commission on each case of GATA-label wine sold. So if you like wine and buy it anyway, why not buy it in a way that supports our work to achieve free and transparent markets in the monetary metals?
To order a case of GATA-label wine, please e-mail Fay J Winery at bagman1236@aol.com.
* * *
Support GATA by purchasing
Stuart Englert's "Rigged"
"Rigged" is a concise explanation of government's currency market rigging policy and extensively credits GATA's work exposing it. Ten percent of sales proceeds are contributed to GATA. Buy a copy for $14.99 through Amazon --
-- or for an additional $3 and a penny buy an autographed copy from Englert himself by contacting him at srenglert@comcast.net.
* * *
Help keep GATA going:
GATA is a civil rights and educational organization based in the United States and tax-exempt under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Its e-mail dispatches are free, and you can subscribe at:
To contribute to GATA, please visit:
