Mining companies paying 19th century prices for public lands

[phantom power]

Interesting, according to this article the biggest proponents of keeping this egregious law aren't the mining companies, it's the real estate developers. They get the land super-cheap, develop it, and sell at ridiculous profits, and never bother mining it.

CRESTED BUTTE, Colo. (AP) -- The ruddy slopes of 12,392-foot Mount Emmons loom over this town, drawing hikers, backcountry skiers and snowshoers. But to residents such as Jim Starr, they also stand for what is wrong with the nation's antiquated mining laws.

Those laws allowed the Bush administration to sell 155 acres of public land on the "Red Lady" to a mining company for less than $900. The land has deposits of molybdenum, a gray metal used to make steel, alloys and lubricants.

Congress has made numerous efforts to change the law, and not even the National Mining Association is a vigorous defender. Spokeswoman Carol Raulston said the trade group would support updating the law so companies pay "fair market value" for patents.

But advocates of overhauling the law have been thwarted by those resisting an end to the free-access approach to public lands upon which the nation was built.

This year, the chairman of the House Resources Committee, GOP Rep. Richard Pombo of California, tried to have the ban on new patents lifted. The committee's top Democrat, Rep. Nick Rahall of West Virginia, proposed sweeping changes, including a permanent end to such patents.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AZ_MINING_THE_WEST_AZOL-?SITE=AZMES&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[NVMojo]

1. true story and yet this is how Kerry lost votes in Nevada, the R-wing

spread the word that he would raise these fees ...in Nevada where the largest international gold mines are making and profit and taking it out of the country from our public lands for almost nothing ...

[The Backlash Cometh]

2. This alone is enough to get rid of the entire Republican party.

It's not just the profit they're looking for, but the dissolution of public lands. Once they do away with public lands, they can do away with government all together. Final Outcome: Disjoining the U.S.A.

[MsConduct]

3. With each new dirty trick man comes up, I'm less proud of being human. n/t

[blindpig]

4. Makes perfect sense

coming from a gang of swine determined on returning this country to 1890.