Mining officials gather at Tahoe

STATELINE ?€" High gold, silver and copper prices are spurring producers to expand operations and look for more ore, and more exploration companies are coming to Nevada, those in the industry said Thursday on opening day of the Nevada Mining Association convention.

?€œIt?€™s been really busy as a result. Now?€™s the time we can explore more and develop more projects like Long Canyon,?€ Newmont Mining Corp.?€™s vice president of environmental and social responsibility, John Mudge, said in an interview.

Newmont is exploring the Long Canyon Project in Elko County that it acquired when the company purchased Fronteer Gold earlier this year, and he said Newmont expects the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to release the environmental assessment on proposed additional exploration at the site any day now.

?€œThat?€™s exciting, and we are working as we speak to design a mine for Long Canyon,?€ said Mudge, who also is the outgoing chairman of the Nevada Mining Association.

Newmont plans to file a plan of operations for the potential gold mine with the Elko BLM office in the first quarter of next year, he said.

?€œIt?€™s a wonderful time to be in gold and a great time to be with Premier,?€ said Paul Huet, who officially becomes the new chief operating officer of Premier Gold Mines Ltd. later this month when he leaves Great Basin Gold ltd. ?€œWe have great addresses and great properties in Nevada and are looking to grow.?€

Premier?€™s biggest project is adjacent to Newmont?€™s Emigrant development south of Carlin, said Huet, who also is on the mining association board, which met Thursday at Harvey?€™s Resort Casino.

He also said he believes the mining industry is ?€œseeing a real shift in permitting,?€ after the industry has long complained that the BLM is taking too long to approve new mining projects.

Huet said BLM Director Bob Abbey has been in Nevada recently, and the agency appears to be ?€œsincerely streamlining permitting.?€

Nevada Mining Associa-tion President Tim Crowley said before meetings began Thursday morning that Nevada?€™s future looks bright in light of the project growth, and he pointed out that reserves are up.

The new Economic Overview of the Nevada Mining Industry the association released this week states that proven and probable gold reserves increased to a little more than 80 million ounces in 2010, compared with a little more than 75 million ounces in 2009.

The gold price was up Thursday after a sell-off Wednesday, with the spot price on the New York Mercantile Exchange closing at $1,869 an ounce, up $52.38.

The association is seeing the enthusiasm in the industry with higher attendance at this year?€™s convention, as well.

There were 495 registrations as of early Thursday afternoon and more are expected, according to Lauren Arends, office administrator and membership services coordinator for the mining association.

High gold prices are good news for Cyanco, which manufactures cyanide used in leaching gold ore.

?€œIt?€™s not an immediate thing for the business, but everybody watches the gold price to see if it will stay high, so there is a lag, but we are seeing additional properties coming into production, so we are continuing to expand our business,?€ said Cyanco Chief Executive Officer John Burrows.

He said there are plans to put more money into the plant at Winnemucca to increase production, and this work will be ?€œmore than debottlenecking,?€ but not a plant expansion.

Cyanco also is constructing a cyanide plant in Houston that will be completed in late 2012. Product from the Houston plant will be exported to South America, Western Africa and elsewhere, Burrows said in an interview at the convention.

Looking at Nevada, Burrows said ?€œeven existing companies are finding more ounces.?€ He said he believes that with Newmont Mining Corp.?€™s acquisition of Fronteer Gold, the former Fronteer projects that include Long Canyon in Elko County may become mines sooner than otherwise.

He said Cyanco looks at how busy are exploration companies and metallurgical laboratories to help gauge future demand.

?€œAs long as they are staying busy, it means our future is pretty good,?€ Burrows said.

He also noted that the businesses that support the mining industry, such as Cyanco, provide jobs and contribute to their communities, which in turns helps Nevada.

?€œI think it?€™s a good part of the story,?€ Burrows said.

Although high metals prices are painting a pretty picture for the future of mining in Nevada, there are many residents who don?€™t know about the industry and what it means to the state, according to Dave Kirvin of Kirvin Doak Com-munications of Las Vegas, which is helping the association get its message out.

He said the firm did a focus survey in Las Vegas that showed ?€œlittle overall knowledge of the mining industry in Nevada or that it is still active in Nevada,?€ and the mining industry has a new advertising campaign to help spread knowledge about the industry. The association also is using Facebook and Twitter to counter opposition.

Kirvin said the opposition during the 2011 Nevada legislative session used Facebook and Twitter extensively, and the association wasn?€™t able to keep up to counter accusations, but it has caught up now and is refuting allegations and putting its message out there.

?€œWe?€™re not taking it any longer,?€ Kirvin told the association board during its meeting at the convention.

Crowley also has been leading tours of Nevada mines to show mining to community leaders and lawmakers.

Mudge said the legislative session kept the association busy as lawmakers looked to the industry to pay more taxes to help with the state?€™s budget crisis, and the industry ended up losing certain deductions on the net proceeds of minerals tax as a result.

?€œI think the association believes net is net. We didn?€™t agree with what they did, but we?€™re living with it,?€ he said. ?€œObviously, the higher the price of gold, the higher the net proceeds will be. It really allows us to make hay while the sun shines and put revenue back into the state.?€

?€œNevada has experienced four consecutive years when the Nevada Legislature looked at mining,?€ said Mary Beth Donnelly, vice president of government relations for Newmont, and chairman of the association?€™s Government Affairs Committee.

She pointed to 2008 as the session when the industry was asked to make net proceeds payments in advance, and the 2009 session as the year the industry fought an effort to go to a gross proceeds tax. Legislators approved an increase in mining claims fees in the 2010 session, and took away certain deductions to the net proceeds tax in 2011, she said.

On the environmental front, the association has filed as an intervenor on the side of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in a lawsuit the Sierra Club filed agains the EPA?€™s new rules on mercury emissions, Mudge said before the board meeting. The association worked closely with EPA to see that the federal rules didn?€™t conflict with Nevada?€™s regulations, he said.

The mines, meanwhile, are complying with the state?€™s latest requirements to control emissions, Mudge said.

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