Congrats to Nevada Miners who set a record in
gold production this year. While the actual
ounces was a few less than last year, with the
gold prices being so high they had record
profits. (
PVT)
This is good for employment in Nevada. This is
good for the security and stability as well as
the wages of Nevada workers. And this is good
for tax revenue for the state.
Mining in Nevada is definitely PRO Nevada!
So is the mercury level good or
bad?
Dueling
Environmentalists: NDEP, UNR
professor at odds over mercury study
By
DOUG McMURDO - Associate Editor
Saturday, March 17, 2007 10:26 AM
PDT
ELKO — One month after
lawmakers in Carson City heard a
damning report regarding
mercury emissions at Nevada mines,
representatives of the state’s
environmental protection agency
essentially dismissed the study as
amateurish and wholly without merit.
Glenn Miller, the University of
Nevada, Reno professor who
supervised the study has defended
the report. Miller, who also is the
treasurer of the watchdog group
Great Basin Mine Watch, told the
Free Press he is a supporter of
mining in Nevada and only seeks to
ensure mercury emissions are
monitored as thoroughly as possible.
Leo Drozdoff and Colleen Cripps of
the Nevada Division of Environmental
Protection, however, virtually
accused
Miller of deliberately misleading
lawmakers. The pair
cited several serious flaws they
allege are present in Miller’s
report in a letter they wrote to the
professor, who works at UNR’s Center
for Environmental Sciences &
Engineering.
Drozdoff and Cripps said they found
many flaws, including a “complete
lack of methodology, significant
variability in the presentation of
the data, no consistency in data
interpretation, no quality
assurance, data that appear to have
been reported selectively and
no statistical
analysis to support claims of
significance.”
The state environmentalists also
noted Miller’s study was not
subjected to peer review — a
requirement in any legitimate
research effort — and that
inflammatory comments made to
lawmakers last month were not
supported by the results.
Miller did not take NDEP’s
comments in stride and responded in
a report obtained by the Free Press
late this week. Miller said the
state’s response was “very
aggressive” and did not recognize
the conclusions. He did, however,
say his findings would be revised in
coming weeks to include more
background information.
But officials with NDEP don’t
believe the study is worth basing
any conclusions on, and indicated
bringing the report to the
Legislature was
premature and even political
grandstanding. A copy
of the report was leaked to a Las
Vegas Sun reporter.
The Sun in the past
has published questionable articles
critical of northern Nevada’s mining
industry.
“It is highly unlikely this study,
in its current form, would survive a
peer review, yet without any review
and despite significant flaws in the
work and the conclusions that stem
from it,” said Drozdoff, “this
information has been presented to
the public as fact.”
Miller said Drozdoff focused on “the
small details” and did not question
data that indicated high mercury
readings. The professor accused NDEP
of being defensive and suggested his
only motive was to ensure a
meaningful mercury monitoring
program was implemented.
While Miller’s report to the
Legislature indicated there were
dangerously high levels of mercury
near Nevada mines — endangering mine
workers and surrounding communities
— in his response to NDEP he said
the study was limited to testing an
instrument used in the study to see
if it could measure elemental
mercury in air.
In
other words, the study was to obtain
a “snapshot” of mercury
concentrations upwind and downwind
from mines, but was not
comprehensive.
But in a story from The Associated
Press published in the Feb. 17
Elko Daily Free Press, Miller
told lawmakers mercury levels near
mines were “thousands of times”
higher than background levels and
claimed inhalation was an issue.
In the end, a bill authored by
Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno,
would require NDEP to protect
workers at mines where mercury is an
issue, and to reduce emissions by
one quarter over the next five
years. A voluntary program
implemented by mines in 2000 reduced
emissions by as much as 80 percent.
Because Nevada is in a mercury belt
— where there is mercury there is
generally gold — it could prove very
difficult to establish the source.
Also, while the U.S. has
aggressively sought to limit the
release of mercury and other
pollutants into the atmosphere,
emerging industries in China, India
and other rapidly developing
countries emit hundreds of tons of
mercury each year, which enters the
jet stream and circles the globe.
Worldwide emissions of mercury have
been pegged at 6,000 tons per year.
NDEP pegs the U.S. share at 124
tons, and Nevada mines at 2 tons —
down from 10 tons seven years ago.
NDEP is already involved with two
mercury-related research projects —
in conjunction with UNR — and in the
letter to Miller they noted the
university researchers are
professional and strictly adhere to
“widely accepted scientific
protocols.”
From Miller’s perspective, all
parties should agree the state is in
need of a more comprehensive
monitoring system than currently
exists. Drozdoff agrees, providing
the studies that lead to such a
system are valid and apolitical. |
|
|
|
NV exports come from PRONevada
areas!
Nevada exports up for
fifth straight year
$5.49 billion in export goods
support 74,000 jobs
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
RENO -- Nevada exported $5.49 billion of goods in 2006, the fifth
straight year of record growth and nearly a 40 percent increase from
the previous year, the U.S. Commerce Department reported Wednesday.
The 39.5 percent rise in
exports from 2005 tied Washington state for second in growth
nationally, trailing only Delaware.
Mining, primarily gold, led
the way as the largest category of export products for the year,
followed by electric machinery; toys, games and sporting equipment;
industrial machinery and ores. "Nevada companies are
doing better in the world market each year and our continued growth
in precious metals, particularly gold, is remarkable," Lt. Gov.
Brian Krolicki said.Nevada businesses exported products to 157
countries last year. The top three destinations were Switzerland,
Canada and greater China, including Hong Kong and Macau. Japan and
Mexico rounded out the top five markets.
"Twenty-three of Nevada's top 25 export markets showed
significant increases in Nevada exports," says Al DiStefano,
director of global trade and investment for the Nevada Commission on
Economic Development. Greater China showed the biggest percentage
increase, 58 percent. Nevada exports to Switzerland increased 46
percent -- almost exclusively in gold -- and exports to Canada
increased 24 percent.
Nevada's nearly $5.5 billion
in exports supported about 74,000 jobs in the state,
the Commerce Department's report said. It said those jobs pay an
average wage that is 15 percent to 18 percent higher than similar
jobs unrelated to exports. |
The NEW Ruby Hill Mine opens
again!
Gold Pours Again
at Ruby Hill
Elko Daily Free Press, Feb. 22, 2007
EUREKA- Gold buttons were poured at Ruby Hill Tuesday for the first time in
nearly five years
Read the Article.
Changes in store for Local Mining
interests
Today: December 11, 2006 at 7:30:14 PST
Mining laws dating to 1872 may be in for big changes
By Lisa Mascaro <lisa.mascaro@lasvegassun.com>
Las Vegas Sun
WASHINGTON - With Democrats about to take control of Congress, the Nevada
mining industry and its chief environmental critics are readying for
possibly the biggest changes to the nation's
mining law in nearly a century. Hard rock mining is the heart of
rural Nevada's economy, but is also a source of toxic pollution targeted by
environmentalist organizations. Those groups see their first chance in more than
a decade to push for revisions to the 1872 Mining Law that still governs most
mining in the United States. Environmental groups say
reforms are long overdue, and some mining companies agree - in part.
Reform advocates want mining companies to pay mining
royalties, just like the oil and gas industries do. They essentially mine
on federal lands for free. Environmental groups also want to give federal
agencies the ability to bar mining in sensitive areas. Washington currently has
little authority to stop proposed new mines. None of this comes as a surprise to
the industry. Mining companies say they know it's time for a change in an
industry that still operates under the old law. They also want to mute growing
complaints that they are ruining the environment across the West. Russ Fields,
president of the Nevada Mining Association, said the industry is dusting off old
versions of mining law reform bills to get ready for the Democrats. "Certainly
everybody is mindful (that) after the first of the year there's going to be a
lot of discussion on this," he said. The industry says it
already is willing to yield in some areas, starting with possibly paying fees
for mining on federal land. But the industry and reform advocates diverge
widely on the nature of those fees.
Despite the Democratic victory in November, the deck is hardly stacked
against mining in Congress, especially given one powerful trump card: Harry
Reid. While the Democratic takeover sidelined some of mining's most influential
lawmakers, the power shift elevated Reid, son of a
miner and a strong ally of mining in Washington, to Senate majority
leader. Reid, who has received more than $100,000 from mining-related political
action committees since 1998, has no patience for the shrill battles of the
past, say those who have worked with him on mining and environmental issues. He
says he is interested only in "reasonable" changes to the 1872 Mining Law. On
that point, he is in agreement with Glenn Miller, co-founder of Great Basin Mine
Watch, a Nevada watchdog group. "I would hope we don't go back over the same
ground and the same rhetoric," said Miller, an Earth sciences professor at UNR.
"I would hope we have a new look at this issue."
Nevada is the world's third largest
producer of gold, much of which is turned into jewelry. The state's
nearly $3 billion annual industry has ballooned in recent years as gold spiked
to $640 an ounce. New mining claims in Nevada have doubled since 2000. Those
riches make mining rural Nevada's biggest employer, with
10,000 jobs paying an average salary of $60,000. Another 48,000 jobs are
mining-related. But those jobs come at a price to the environment. A
report released last week by the conservation group Earthworks and 10 Western
states shows that water pollution from mining activity nationwide is much
greater than regulators expected.
Environmentalists had their last true chance to reform mining laws during the
Clinton administration. Legislation, written by Rep. Nick J. Rahall, D-W.Va.,
won House approval, but stalled in the Senate. The Clinton administration
ultimately adopted new regulations giving federal agencies greater authority to
deny new mining operations on federal lands, but the Bush administration later
reversed the restriction. Now, Rahall is taking over as chairman of the House
Resources Committee, replacing environmentalists' foe Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif.
Also gone from that committee is Nevada Gov.-elect Jim Gibbons, another friend
of mining who tried and failed to pass a mining bill last year that was widely
opposed as a giveaway to the industry. Rahall has pledged to make mining law
revisions a priority.
Environmental activists want to get the issues into the spotlight, even if it
means foregoing legislative victory. With Reid perceived as an obstacle in the
Senate, environmentalists would be satisfied with action in the House that sets
the stage for 2009, when Bush leaves the White House. "While this new Congress
is going to be much better on the environment and mining in general, we still
have Sen. Reid and President Bush to deal with," said Lauren Pagel, policy
director at Earthworks. "What we would hopefully be doing is setting something
up, educating members, and getting those issues back out there," she said. "We
waited 12 years. We can wait a couple more." Fields of the Nevada Mining
Association said that giving the federal government veto power over where
companies can mine, as the Clinton administration sought to do, is a
"nonstarter."
The National Mining Association is pushing provisions it wants, such as
streamlining the environmental review process - a step environmentalists worry
would chisel away at protections. Reid told reporters shortly after the November
election that he would consider revisiting the 1872 Mining Law. For instance, he
supports requiring companies to pay to mine on federal land. "I think there are
things we can do to make it better - make it better for industry, certainly make
it better for the consuming public, including the people of the state of
Nevada," Reid said.
A supporter of many other environmental causes, Reid
infuriates environmentalists on mining. They say he helped block
Rahall's reforms in the 1990s and he also aided in stalling the Clinton
administration's work. Miller of Great Basin Mine Watch remains hopeful that
Congress will set the stage for environmental reforms. "I fully realize that
he's going to be protecting the mining industry," Miller said of Reid, "but I
also believe he realizes there has been tremendous destruction from mining in
the West and that has to stop."
Lisa Mascaro can be reached at (202) 662-7436 or at lisa.mascaro@lasvegassun.com.
A BIG Thanks to the Eagle Scouts!
Dec. 03, 2006
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Eagle Scout project fences
off mine shaft
Thousands of hazardous sites
dot state
By HENRY BREAN
REVIEW-JOURNAL
SEARCHLIGHT -- For a hundred years, the abandoned mine shaft
gaped open on the hillside, waiting to swallow up anyone careless or
curious enough to get too close. Now the old hole is hard to reach
and impossible to miss. On Saturday morning, about two dozen
volunteers hammered metal fence posts into the rocky ground
surrounding the 20-foot shaft, then strung four, shiny strands of
barbed wire on the poles. On the front of their new fence, the
workers hung a sign with the following warning in orange and black:
"Stay Out, Stay Alive."
Since 1992, that has been the slogan of the Nevada Division of
Mineral's Abandoned Mine Lands Program, which was created to address
the dangerous -- and numerous -- remnants of the state's prospecting
past.According to state estimates, Nevada is home to about 200,000
abandoned mine openings, 50,000 of which are hazardous. "I suspect
when all is said and done we'll find 2,000 in Clark County alone,"
said Bill Durbin, the division's chief of Southern Nevada
operations. Four old shafts were
fenced near Searchlight on Saturday as part of 17-year-old Joshua
O'Barr's Eagle Scout project. The senior at Silverado
High School said he chose the project because "mines are really
interesting, and it's good to keep people safe."
For O'Barr's Scout leader, Jake Marshall, the work offered a trip
down memory lane. He said his grandfather was "kind of an old
prospector" in central Idaho, and Marshall sometimes helped him work
his claims. "I used to pack the bags of explosives for him. That was
my job during the summer," Marshall said. Most of the old shafts are
concentrated around what were the major mining districts in the
county, namely Goodsprings, Nelson and Searchlight. "We have
inventoried 1,638 individual shafts, and all of them are within
about an hour of Las Vegas," Durbin said.
The first step in securing a dangerous opening involves a trip to
the local county courthouse, where ownership of an old shaft often
can be traced. If the mine has an owner, the state will send that
person a letter with instructions on how to secure the site and a
list of contractors willing to do the work. If no owner can be
found, the mine is declared an "orphan" and added to the list of
sites that need to be secured by Durbin and company. Sometimes the
best way to secure an old shaft is to fill it with rocks and dirt.
First, though, the site must be examined for historical relics or
evidence that it is being used by bats or other wildlife, Durbin
said. "You don't want to bury a bat colony when there are other ways
of making (a mine opening) people-unfriendly but bat-friendly." Of
the more than 11,500 hazardous sites inventoried statewide, some
9,200 of them have been fenced or filled in to date.
"It's ongoing," said Durbin, who has been with the division for
17 years. "We're after it all the time." His program relies on
volunteers for about 20 percent of the work it does. "We're
most grateful for volunteers like the Eagle Scouts. You're looking
at half the abandoned mine staff for the state," he said, motioning
to himself.
But not everyone appreciates the work. Durbin said sometimes he
will return to an old mine shaft that has been secured, only to find
the warning signs shot up, the barbed wire cut and the fences pulled
down. Over the years, program officials have developed a trick or
two to beat vandals at their own game. For example, Durbin said, "We
vandalize the signs before we put them up. We scratch them up and
poke holes in them, because if we don't -- if we put up a perfect,
pretty sign -- it will disappear." If the state's accident
statistics are any indication, all of the program's efforts seem to
be paying off. "The incident rate has actually gone down over the
years, even though Nevada has grown," Durbin said.
Since 1971, the division has logged 14 deaths and 15 significant
injuries as a result of falls and other incidents at abandoned mine
sites. In March 1975, two boys fell to their deaths when they rode
their motorcycles over a mine shaft near Searchlight. In October
1999, an 11-year-old girl wandered away from her family during an
off-road race near Beatty and was killed in a fall down a 130-foot
mine shaft. "You think it would be mostly teenagers, but the average
age of our abandoned mine victims is 36," Durbin said. "They just
let curiosity get in the way of good judgment." |
Positive news on the mining
front. Congrat's to Newmont
 |
| THURSDAY
NOVEMBER 16, 2006 Last modified:
Wednesday, November 15, 2006 3:45 PM PST
| |
| Brant
Hinze, vice president of Newmont Mining Corp.’s North
American Operations, signs a contract for the One Nevada
Maintenance Training Program between Newmont and Great
Basin College, while GBC President Paul Killpatrick,
left, shares a smile with attendees.(John Sents/Elko
Daily Free Press) |
Newmont pledges $750,000 for college mining
program
By JOHN SENTS — Staff Writer
ELKO — Newmont Mining Corp., agreed to a
two-year contract Tuesday with Great Basin College that pledges
at least $750,000 to develop new mining-related courses at the
school.
The One Nevada Maintenance Training Program focuses on
maintenance areas that GBC already addresses, including diesel,
welding, electrical instrumentation and industrial plant
mechanics. The program will identify areas where Newmont
employees need additional training, and will create
need-specific programs at GBC to address those needs.
In the short term, the new programs will only
be made available to current Newmont employees. However, Newmont
and GBC officials say the program will eventually be opened to
the public, so anyone can benefit from the training that is
created.
The program has two phases. In the first phase, research will be
conducted to identify what skills Newmont maintenance staff
need, so they receive the right training at the right time. The
second phase will create training programs to address the
employees needs. The two-year contract includes 60,000 man-hours
of training.
Newmont officials said the program will help them pinpoint the
type of training their employees need and address it.
“There will be no more shotgun approach to training,” said Ed
Durfee, Nevada maintenance training manager for Newmont. “This
will put the right people in the right positions.”
The program is part of a global Newmont initiative to improve
training, Durfee said. In Nevada, the program will begin at
GBC’s Elko campus. Some Newmont officials said they hope they
can expand it to other GBC campuses later.
Although Newmont’s renewable contract with GBC covers only two
years, Durfee said Newmont expects it will take two to five
years to train all of the about 800 employees in their
maintenance staff for the One Nevada program. Once Newmont has
finished their training, the program will be opened to the
public, so that anyone can take the advanced training classes at
GBC. Many of GBC’s current mining courses began from similar
partnerships with mining companies.
“This is historic for Elko and GBC,” said Great Basin College
President Paul Killpatrick. “It is a win/win for them. It is a
win/win for us. It is a win/win for the community.”
GBC’s Dean of Applied Sciences, Bret Murphy, said the program
may lead to great things for GBC.
“This is just the beginning of a huge project,” Murphy said. “It
could put GBC on the map worldwide, as far as technical careers
in mining.”
Murphy said GBC hopes to get the program started by Nov. 27. |
|
There was an article recently in
the Mason Valley News on mine safety.
Check it out. It is important to keep in mind how and why to stay away from
abandoned mines in Nevada!
Did ya catch the article
on mining in Nevada?
The Las Vegas Review Journal article stating Mining is as Good
as Gold! PRO Nevada agrees. While mines use 25% of the electricity
in Nevada they pump hundreds of millions of dollars into the Nevada
economy. Nevada mines produce
almost two-thirds of the gold in the United States as
well as one of the top copper and silver producers!
Nevada Mines are PRO Nevada!
Here’s an idea …
PRONevada sends out
congratulations to the Tonopah Historic
Mining Park
in Tonopah for winning the "Best Rural Museum" award for the fifth year
in a row from Nevada
Magazine. Check out the article in the
Pahrump Valley Times.
So Check it OUT! Here's
the
Website!
Emailed Responses:
"This is a great place! Go and
check it out!" R.R. from Ely
"NICE!" J.B. from Tonopah
