Mining Impacts - State by State

Many of mining's social and environmental impacts are common to all communities.

But many mining impacts and issues differ from state to state, and from community to community.  Copper mining dominates Arizona and New Mexico, while Nevada, if it were its own country, would be the third largest gold producer in the world.  And a community in one region may welcome a responsibly operated mine, while another community may oppose mining under any circumstance.

The state laws that govern mining vary from state to state as well. For example:

• Montana - In the wake of costly environmental disasters at the Zortman-Landusky and Kendall gold mines, the citizens of Montana passed a statewide ban on open pit cyanide leach mining.
• Nevada - Oversight is so lax in Nevada that, in at least one example, when a mining company is found in violation of its permits, the state government changes the permit to conform to company emissions rather than requiring the offending company to come into compliance with the permit.
• New Mexico - Financial assurance regulations require mining companies to post enough money for the full reclamation of each mine to a defined environmental standard.

Although western states may deal with mining in different ways, all communities in the West deserve a say in where and how mining that will affect their lives is conducted. But in all states, under the 1872 Mining Law, the government gives mining preferential treatment over all other uses of public lands.  As a result, western citizens are barred from protecting their environment, livelihood and communities from the negative impacts of mining.

Use the left hand navigation bar to read summaries of mining impacts in states where the hardrock mining industry operates.  Some state pages include links to individual community stories and mine case studies.