Elko Daily Free Press 4-9-10

By ADELLA HARDING- Staff Writer
Thursday, April 8, 2010 9:18 AM PDT

ELKO — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Wednesday ended a three-day caravan tour of Nevada with a visit to Elko, where he reiterated his support of the mining industry at a round table discussion.

“We have people who want to get rid of mining,” he told a gathering of mining industry representatives before attending the Elko County Democratic Party dinner.

He said the mining law reform bill proposed by Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., would kill mining, but “it won’t go anywhere as long as I’m there.”

The senator also said he opposes legislation proposed by Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., on mining law reform, and as majority leader he controls what bills get to the floor.

“I have a good feeling about this industry. Times are good and the price of gold is good, but mining is cyclical. We need to support the industry in good times,” Reid said at the Western Folklife Center.

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The senator grew up around mining in Searchlight and has been a supporter of the industry during his years in office. He said, “I don’t know anybody in Congress who knows as much about mining as I do. I am happy to work for mining.”

At the round table, Carrie Bruno of Great Basin College asked Reid what would happen with mining law reform if he wasn’t re-elected, and the senator answered that “the people who would take my job are not friends of mining.” He was referring to his majority leader job.

Nigel Bain, manager of underground operations at Barrick Gold of North America’s Goldstrike Mine north of Carlin, asked Reid if anything can be done to speed up permitting for mining projects. There is a backlog of project studies and records of decision awaiting publication in the Federal Register.

Reid said he helped push the permitting effort for the Coeur Rochester Mine near Lovelock, and he believes more can be done. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is working on an environmental assessment to start mining again at Rochester, rather than doing a more intensive environmental impact statement.

The senator said Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is a “wonderful person, and he has already helped us in many different ways so we can speed things up.”

Reid said in an interview after the discussion he talked to Salazar about Interior taking a strong stance in defending current mining regulations in a lawsuit in Washington, D.C., that is asking the court to go back to a millsite opinion that would limit the size of mining operations.

Interior filed its defense of the regulations and a request for dismissal last week in the lawsuit brought by Earthworks, the Western Shoshone Defense Project and Great Basin Resource Watch and organizations in Colorado and Arizona.

Reid said former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and former Interior solicitor John Leshy “were not good for mining,” but officials in the Obama administration aren’t the same.

Tim Crowley, president of the Nevada Mining Association, said before the round table that “we’re grateful for the time, attention and appreciation that Sen. Reid has for our industry. Having him as the majority leader brings special attention to our often-misunderstood industry.”

Tom Kerr, senior vice president of Newmont Mining Corp.’s North American operations, said mining jobs depend on Reid, and he has “worked hard for mining and all of Nevada.”