The Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2007

MONTANA, Mar 28 (Neo Natura) - Although now 135 years old, the 1872 Mining Law still governs mining on public lands for precious minerals such as gold and copper. Signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant, the 1872 Mining Law allows mining companies to stake claims on public land and take whatever minerals they find without royalties to the U.S. citizens that own these resources.

EarthWorks has written the following to congress, "The 1872 Mining Law places the interests of mining corporations above those of U.S. citizens. In 2001, for example, the U.S. Forest Service approved a silver and copper mine that would tunnel directly into the heart of the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness Area in northwestern Montana – one of the ten original Wilderness Areas established by Congress in 1964. The mine would pollute the famed Clark Fork River, deplete an important native bulltrout fishery and jeopardize one of the last remaining grizzly bear populations in the lower 48 states. Even though there is broad opposition to this mine, the Forest Service argued that the 1872 Mining Law left them no choice but to approve it."

The Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2007 (HR2262) consists of the following major points.
• Protect water resources and habitats by establishing strong environmental and cleanup standards specific to mining;
• Provide a fair return to taxpayers, by providing for a reasonable 8% royalty on the value of the precious minerals mining companies take from public lands;
• Defend local communities and special places from irresponsible mining, by giving land managers the ability to balance mining with other uses of the public’s lands;
• Abolish the giveaway of public lands to private mining interests; and
• Create an Abandoned Mine Land Fund and a Community Impact Assistance Fund to address the long-standing hazards of abandoned mines to drinking water, fish and wildlife habitat, and the well being of local communities.