Currently, the federal new mine permitting process is the biggest hurdle in attracting investment. The “National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act of 2013” (H.R. 761), which passed the House Natural Resources Committee this week, will streamline permitting timeframes that currently drag on for up to 10 years. Advancing policies that allow our mining industry to become more competitive on the world stage while continuing to supply domestic manufacturers with the minerals they need is a top priority for U.S. mining. Such policies will help the U.S. economy, bolster national security and maintain American global competitiveness.

Listen to the full interview here.

A modernized mining permit process, Quinn writes, would have the job-creating effects the president has been anxious to produce. The automotive, heavy machinery, medical equipment, aerospace and energy industries contribute significantly to new manufacturing jobs and rely heavily on minerals and metals.

Currently, our permitting process forces U.S. manufacturers to depend on foreign supplies of minerals. Less than half the minerals U.S. manufacturers use are domestically mined — a number that been decreasing for decades despite the U.S. having one of the world’s largest mineral repositories

The passage of the “National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act of 2013,” through the House Natural Resources Committee this week could change that. Introduced by Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.), the bi-partisan legislation calls for a reform of U.S. mine permitting, and would make domestic resources available to manufacturers, create jobs in important sectors and advance our global competitiveness.

Read the entire letter here.

The bill will allow the United States to more efficiently develop our nation’s strategic and critical minerals. It will streamline the permitting process, which can take between seven and 10 years, for mineral development by coordinating the actions of federal agencies. It also establishes definitions for critical and strategic minerals.

Hal Quinn, president and CEO of the National Mining Association, applauded the House Natural Resources Committee for passing the bill, which Quinn said will reverse a 30-year trend of increasing import reliance for minerals we have here at home.

Quinn also added, “This bi-partisan legislation carefully and credibly addresses the shortcomings of our outdated and underperforming permitting system within the framework of the environmental and other protections provided by current laws and regulations. By incorporating best practices and coordination between federal and state agencies, H.R.761 provides for efficient, timely and thorough permit reviews needed to sustain a secure and reliable domestic mineral supply chain.” 

Read the full press release here.

National Mining Association President and CEO Hal Quinn and Wisconsin Mining Association Chair Tim Sullivan recently met with industry leaders from the business and manufacturing sectors to discuss the role that minerals — such as iron ore, copper and gold — play in the state.

In addition to providing well-paying jobs, developing Wisconsin's robust resource base would greatly benefit the state’s nearly 11,500 manufacturers, whose ability to compete globally is directly linked to their ability to access reliable supplies of the raw materials they need.

Despite the necessity of minerals to manufacturing, American supply chains are left wanting. In a 2011 PricewaterhouseCoopers report, 78 percent of high-tech industry CEOs and 50 percent of aviation CEOs indicated their businesses face minerals and metals scarcity.

With impressive mineral deposits in Wisconsin and an estimated $6.2 trillion worth of key minerals across the nation, it is not logical that these resources are not being developed at a time when they are needed. What’s more, there are ambitions to mine asteroids while taxing the industry here at home.

In Wisconsin, the recent passage of Senate Bill 1 marked significant progress toward ensuring Wisconsin can benefit from its mineral resources. The bill provides certainty to the state's iron mine permitting process, while maintaining strict environmental safeguards. This reform will pave the way for statewide job growth and help support Wisconsin's manufacturing sector.

A strong manufacturing base has always been fundamental to the economic success of our nation. Reinforced with minerals mined in Wisconsin, Arizona, Alaska and other states, American industry — and American workers — can continue to thrive.

Hal Quinn, National Mining Association president and CEO, recently explained how the current regulatory climate is deterring domestic investment in minerals mining projects. A broken permitting process is the “highest hurdle” keeping the mining industry from starting new projects, creating new jobs and contributing even more revenue to federal and state governments.

The National Environmental Protection Act, or NEPA, is one piece of this bureaucratic puzzle. This week, Johnathan DuHamel lays out in a Wry Heat post just how much this policy is affecting productivity.

“Although established with good intentions, the reality is that NEPA has turned into a byzantine bureaucratic maze that stifles productivity…Before a single shovel can hit the dirt it usually takes more than five years for the average Federal project to jump through all the normal environmental hoops. Some private projects take longer, for example the proposed Rosemont Copper project is seven years into the permitting process.”

You can read more about navigating NEPA in the full article, here.

Lee Allison, state geologist in Arizona, and study author Dr. Kent Hill of ASU’s L. William Seidman Research Institute explained the findings of the report in this month’s online version of the Arizona Mining Review.

"The financial impacts for jobs, for the tax base from the [copper mining] industry, are very significant, particularly in rural counties," said Allison. "The mines are some of the biggest economic drivers in many of these rural counties."

Some of the economic contributions include:

• Average earnings, including benefits, of $108,000 annually, which is more than double the state average;
• Business taxes totaling $212 million to local Arizona governments; and
• Indirect impacts including purchases of goods and services by mining industry suppliers, consumer spending by all employees connected to the industry, and local and state government spending of tax revenues generated by the industry.

According to the Arizona Daily Star, copper remains one of the top five exports of the state.

Throughout the country, the minerals mining sector contributes millions of dollars to local and state governments and provides well-paying jobs to the communities with mining operations.

In Alaska, mining is a “growing force” in the state’s economy. In 2012, the sector paid $137 million in state government revenue and $21 million in local government revenue through rents, royalties, fees and taxes.

Directly employing 4,800 people in Alaska, the mining sector provides some of the highest paying, year-round jobs in the state, with many salaries doubling the state average.

Beyond providing a steady source of revenue to state and local governments, Alaskan mining companies support online classes for high school seniors to prepare for internships and indirectly employ another 9,500 Alaskans through the use of supplies and services from hundreds of Alaska businesses. 

You can read more about the economic contributions of minerals mining and individual operations in the interactive report from the Alaska Miners Association.

However, the president’s budget proposal stands in the way of this progress. In it, harsh new taxes are proposed for U.S. mining operations, which would obstruct development of domestic mineral resources, including those critical to advanced energy technologies. Given the intense global demand for minerals and the willingness of some foreign suppliers to withhold mineral shipments as means of political pressure, we cannot afford to be further dependent upon foreign cooperation and supply for the minerals we need.

Paired with the broken federal permitting system, the new taxes proposed in the budget would deter investment in U.S. mining projects, effectively blocking development of reliable, domestic sources of critical minerals needed to drive American manufacturing and economic growth.

Our goal is to help strengthen America’s economy through the pursuit of policies that enable domestic industries to grow and thrive. Policies that penalize domestic production will not put us on the pathway to a stronger future.

Read more about how the budget represents a set-back for our nation in NMA President and CEO Hal Quinn’s latest post on the National Journal’s Energy Experts Blog.

As minerals mining is a crucial piece of the advanced energy puzzle, Hal Quinn, president and CEO of National Mining Association, felt it was important to offer this perspective.

In his budget, President Obama increases funding for Advanced Research Project Agency to support early-stage energy technology innovations while also pushing a “dirt tax” that would penalize American mining — an industry whose innovation benefits the energy sector — by taxing them for every pound of dirt they move. 

The “dirt tax” obstructs development of U.S. mineral resources, including those critical to advanced energy technologies. From cobalt used in hybrid vehicles to copper and nickel used in solar cells and wind turbines, minerals are essential to America’s next-generation energy technologies.

You can read Hal’s full response here.

“Permitting delays are the most significant risk to mining projects in the United States. A few mining friendly states (Nevada, Utah, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Arizona) are an exception to this rule but are negatively impacted by federal rules that they are bound to enforce resulting in a 7- to 10-year waiting period before mine development can begin.”

In 2009, the same study found that the U.S. permitting process took an average of five to seven years. Today, it’s seven to 10 years—a 40 percent increase in delays—which is an important factor in the decline of global investment dollars in metals mining in the U.S.

The National Mining Association has repeatedly voiced concern with the current permitting process because it is affecting our economy, national security and global competitiveness.

Mining is one of the few sectors that will add jobs at a fairly consistent rate over the next 20 years. However, a more efficient permitting process would allow for new minerals mining projects to get approved more quickly, creating high-paying, lasting jobs for hardworking Americans and contributing to local communities.

In addition to jobs, the mining sector is the bedrock of other industries. The value added by major industries that consume the $77 billion of minerals produced in the U.S. was an estimated $2.4 trillion in 2012, or 15 percent of total U.S. GDP.

New mining projects would create a more secure supply chain for U.S. manufacturers, encouraging more domestic production of the technologies we use every day—including automobiles, medical devices and cell phones.

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) recently released findings from the “Strategic and Critical Materials 2013 Report on Stockpile Requirements,” which identified 23 critical minerals of which shortages are likely. As one of the largest consumers of minerals, the DOD could avoid the stockpiling of minerals—which recently was identified as a “solution” to the scarcity problem—in favor of the resources that exist here at home.

It is imperative that the U.S. permitting process be reformed. As such, NMA continues to urge Congress to pass H.R. 761 to provide a more predictable regulatory environment, one that will attract additional investments and allow U.S. mining to build on our positive contribution to the national economy and host communities.