America needs a new political discourse on hard-rock mining. The time is here to take steps to increase production in Colorado and throughout the American West.
Source: www.gjsentinel.com
Growing need and limited availability have made the U.S. rely more on imports for its supply of key minerals and metals. Imports of minerals critical to the U.S. defense industry continue to rise, from eight minerals in 1995 to 18 minerals currently. The U.S. also currently depends on imports of commodity minerals such as zinc, platinum, cobalt, tin and chromium. Despite growing demand for minerals, little is being done to encourage mining in the U.S. On the contrary, some politicians seem determined to raise new impediments to mining such as raising royalties, which will increase the country’s reliance on imported minerals and metals. The key to a successful strategy for domestic mining is ensuring that the country utilizes its vast mineral reserves properly by bringing commonsense reform to a cumbersome mine permitting process that is a key impediment to increasing domestic minerals production.
