1872 Mining Law Factoid #15
Depending on the National Mining Association for our security would be like jumping out of an airplane with a parasol instead of a parachute.
An impressive storehouse of strategic metals and minerals-those defined by the Pentagon as vital to our national security-has been set aside to ensure America's preparedness. The supply is so large the federal government has been selling off stores of some these materials to private entities.
Multinational mining companies represented by the NMA contend mining on U.S. public lands supplies our country with strategic metals and minerals. Yet the vast majority of hardrock mining under the 1872 Mining Law is for jewelry and other nonstrategic uses. And many strategic metals and minerals must be imported, as they don't exist in America's domestic ore bodies.
Despite these facts, the NMA maintains that the need for strategic minerals justifies opposing meaningful reform of the 1872 Mining Law.
Let's face it, destroying our public lands for a false sense of security is an idea that just won't fly.