Mining Myths and Facts

Myth: Miners dig huge holes and leave them behind.

Fact:- Before a mine Is even dug, numerous permits must be obtained. A plan of operation must be approved by the managing land agency. The plan must Include extensive detail on how mining will proceed and what the land will look like when mining Is complete. Some open pit mines are being planned for use as recreational lakes and habitat for fish, birds, and other aquatic life. Mining companies are required to reclaim the land for beneficial use and abide by today's strict standards for protecting air and water. This includes posting reclamation bonds to Insure that the reclamation will be done. It is very important that everyone understand that mining is only a temporary use of the land. However, it must be noted that with mining there will be a change in the landscape.

During the last part of this century, environmental concerns have played a major role in planning, operating and closing a mine. In the old days, miners only had the technology to recover the richest of ores. They moved from one location to another tunneling and digging for only the minerals that could be seen and easily removed.

In the early days, mining was the key element in settling the new territories and environmental concerns were secondary to scratching a living from the barren and harsh setting they called the western frontier.

The bottom line is that we all place demands on the earth In order to satisfy our basic needs, and we must all be willing to pay a certain price for obtaining those basic needs. We all make choices, each and every day, that impact our environment, but we can all try to minimize those impacts. One must remember that there are only two basic resource industries, mining and agriculture, and that all of our material needs must be grown or mined. Our horn of plenty truly begins with a hole in the ground.

Myth: I'm just an average person. I don't have a need for minerals.

Fact: Wrong! Everything you buy and consume comes from the earth. It simply doesn't come from the grocery or hardware stores. We forget that a brightly packaged tool or shiny new appliance Is but the end product of a complicated and expensive Industrial process starting with a hole in the ground.

Society as we know it today could not exist without products of Mother Nature's storehouse, the earth. The food we eat, the materials that make up the clothes we wear, the components of the cars we drive and the gadgets we work and play with all must be grown or mined. We all have basic material needs - food, shelter an water and the only way to obtain these basic needs Is to tap into the earth's resources. Without the two basic resource industries, mining and agriculture, the tapping ends, so too, does our ability to sustain a progressive society.

Discuss your mineral property appraisal, mining business valuation, or other mineral industry related concerns with Mineral Business Appraisal:
Michael R. Cartwright  michael@minval.com
Five Claret Court, Reno, NV  89512-4744
Tel/Fax: 775-322-9028

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