All Articles
Legislative and Regulatory Update
January 2008 by Staff
• Forest Service proposes further changes to mining regsMike Doran, from the Locatable Minerals section of the Forest Service’s Minerals and Resource Geology Division, announced at the recent Northwest Mining Association tradeshow in Spokane that the Forest Service intends to make further changes to their regulations governing mining.
They are expected to expand on their recent proposal to issue criminal citations for occupancy and attempt to place further restrictions on the use of public lands by miners.
Doran said one of the proposed amendments would create a new level of approval called a Bonded Notice. A Bonded Notice would require the posting of a financial guarantee for activities approved under a Notice where activities do not warrant a Plan of Operations.
According to Jerry Hobbs, president of Public Lands for the People, this change in the Forest Service mining regulations will make mining activities in the Forests unaffordable to most small miners.
"There are no bonding companies that will bond a small-scale mining operation. The bond would have to be cash, which most small miners cannot afford. We had better get serious about this one and start raising funds now to stop it."
Doran said the Forest Service would publish the proposed changes in the Federal Register soon, though he could not provide a specific date.
A comment period will be provided. No public meetings have been scheduled, so miners will have to make a request for public meetings following publication of the proposed amendments.
See page 28 for more information about Public Lands for the People.
• Preble’s mouse resurrected
Remember all the back and forth decisions by the Fish & Wildlife Service involving the Preble’s jumping mouse?
FWS listed the mouse in 1998. Developers spent millions to mitigate projects, and several new freeway interchanges in Colorado were reconfigured to prevent possible harm to the species. Then, following a lawsuit by environmental groups, FWS proposed critical habitat of another 237 miles of rivers and streams and over 20,000 acres of land in Wyoming in 2002.
FWS made an about face in 2005, proposing to de-list the mouse following two studies that indicated the mouse was genetically the same as another common mouse. The de-listing proposal has been postponed several times since then.
Now FWS has said their decision to de-list the mouse was in error, and they announced in the Federal Register their plan to retain the Endangered Species listing.
A link to the Federal Register proposal can be found under the Pending Rules & Regulations section on our website, www.icmj.com
Gold Miners Become Tungsten Miners
The story begins in the early 1940s in Vance County, North Carolina, on a farm that belonged to the Hamme family. During spring plowing in 1942, one of the brothers accidentally plowed up an odd looking rock and took it home to show his younger brother who was studying geology at Duke University.
Impact of Habitat Designations Grossly Underestimated
A UC Berkeley professor says the federal government is using an analysis method that seriously underestimates the economic impact of critical habitat designations for imperiled species.
Resolution Copper Project To Be Reviewed By Year-End
If approved, the project would use block caving to extract the remaining ore, most of which is 7,000 feet below ground level.
Our Readers Say
In response to "Fake Assays and Assayers", ICMJ September 2000...
The Phoenix Gold Mine: A Brief History
The Phoenix Gold Mine is located approximately 7 miles south of Concord, North Carolina, and was discovered in about 1836, some 37 years following the first discovery of gold in the United States and a few years following the discovery of gold in quartz veins by Joseph Barringer.
DOI Computers Back Online
You may have noticed that the Department of Interior’s (DOI) computers were disconnected for about 10 days during mid-March. The disconnected Internet service prevented miners and prospectors from accessing numerous online files, including all Bureau of Land Management websites and mining claim systems.
Subscription Required:
The Journal Welcomes Chris Ralph as Associate Editor
• The Bawl Mill
• Global Hunter
• New Study of the Formation of Nuggets—Part II
• Michigan DEQ Approves Upper Peninsula Mine
• Let’s Go Crevicing for Gold
• Mining Restrictions Lifted in Southwest Alaska
• Silver Bonanza in the Sierra Madre: The Glorious Past of Batopilas—Conclusion
• 2007 Annual Photo Contest Winners
• Exploring La Trinidad Mine
• There’s Still Gold In Oregon’s Umpqua River
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
Free: