Public concern has intensified in recent years in regard to the quality of
the environment. This heightened awareness has resulted in part from the
publicity of the emotional competition between our economic requirements and our
environmental needs.
It is regrettable, but unavoidable, that mining operations, including
milling, smelting and refining, will bring changes to the land simply by
existing. However, the mining industry is taking responsibility for better
reclamation plans. In fact, in modern mining projects, reclamation plans are
often as detailed and thought-out as the mining operation itself. Many of the
public lands being mined today will become the wildlife refuges, recreation
parks and housing or business developments of tomorrow.
After mining is completed, when the land is reclaimed, it's hard to tell the
mine site ever existed. With the positive actions taken to promote the
preservation of our environment, the negative attitude toward mining should be
reversed and mines should be allowed to extract the natural resources in an
environmentally conscious manner.
Since 1980, the mining industries in the United States have spent over $1.5
trillion toward environmental improvement. Last year, $360 billion was spent and
this year over $400 billion will be spent to better our environment. This is
being done to clean up environmental problems of the past and to insure that
mining can be done in an environmentally sound manner for a better tomorrow.