Women’s Mining Coalition advocates for mining issues at 2024 Fly-In

At their 2024 Fly-In, 31 WMC members met with some 140 congressional offices and agencies in Washington, DC to discuss issues such as bringing back the U.S. Bureau of Mines. The Women’s Mining Coalition (WMC) was founded in 1993 by three female geologists, Debbie Struhsacker, Kathy Benedetto and Ruth Carraher, with the mission of advocating for the modern domestic mining industry, which is essential to our nation. The organization now has more than 250 members nationwide who work in all sectors of the mining industry including hard rock and industrial minerals, coal, energy generation, manufacturing, transportation and services. The focus is to organize grassroots outreach efforts in home states and Washington, DC, bringing constituents together from across the country to communicate the importance of a strong mining industry. We convene annual “Fly-Ins” to give our members an opportunity to meet with members of Congress and their staffs, as well as with federal land management and regulatory agencies to discuss issues of importance to both the hard-rock and coal mining sectors. This year, we continued the legacy for our 31st Fly-In as 31 women from across the country returned to Washington, DC to advocate for the modern mining industry. We met with approximately 140 congressional offices and agencies, discussing multiple issues of importance to our greater industry, including the Interagency Working Group on Mining Laws, Regulations, and Permitting (IWG) Report’s recommendation to bring back the U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM); critical legislation such as the Mining Regulatory Clarity Act; an “All of the Above Energy Strategy”; permitting reform; and mining education and workforce development. Now, more than ever, our industry’s voices of support need to be heard. WMC 2024 Washington, DC Fly-In key issues Support for a return of the USBM. Congress stopped funding the USBM in 1995. The resulting demise of minerals and mining expertise at the federal level has contributed to the nation’s steadily increasing and dangerous reliance on imported minerals from China and other adversaries. This growing dependency on mineral imports is not due to a lack of minerals. The United States has many of the minerals essential to our economy, national security, and for achieving our energy goals. The United States needs a strategic agency to improve mineral security and reduce reliance on foreign minerals. The WMC supports the recent IWG Report’s recommendation to “revitalize domestic mining” by bringing back the USBM. This federal agency should focus on researching advanced mineral extraction and processing technologies and mine reclamation techniques to: Identify extractive metallurgical methods to enhance and improve metal recovery and minimize environmental impacts from mine waste management facilities.Characterize old mine sites where mineral reprocessing could recover critical minerals and clean up contamination from legacy, preregulation mines.Develop waste minimization and recycling technologies to recover and recycle mineral processing byproducts from scrap, residues and effluents. The Alaska delegation (top) and Wyoming delegation (bottom), with members. It should be noted that existing statutes include mandates for a federal minerals agency that need to be fulfilled: 30 U.S.C. § 3: the USBM shall conduct scientific and technologic investigations concerning mining and mineral preparation, treatment, and utilization to ... increase safety, efficiency, economic development, and conserve resources.30 U.S.C. § 21(3): “mining, mineral, and metallurgical research” are in the national interest. Advocacy for critical legislation. The WMC advocated for the following pieces of legislation: The Mining Regulatory Clarity Act (S. 1281 and H.R. 2925), also known as “The Rosemont Fix”: Restores and clarifies rights under the U.S. Mining Law that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling in the Rosemont litigation misinterpreted. It does not make any changes to the U.S. Mining Law.The Mining Schools Act of 2023 (S. 912 and H.R. 2685): Creates new funding for U.S. mining schools to recruit students and pursue research.The Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act (S. 2781 and H.R. 7779): Creates a pilot liability relief program for Good Samaritans who want to clean up abandoned hard-rock mines. Support for an “All of the Above Energy Strategy” for achieving energy independence. The United States has a diverse portfolio of natural resources that should allow us to be energy independent. Americans have long enjoyed reliable, affordable electricity from coal, nuclear, natural-gas and hydro resources. The WMC also recognizes the value in the investment our country has made in solar and wind, giving us additional energy options as demand rises. As the United States increases industrial development, coupled with policy and economic pressures to modernize our electrical grid, we are faced with an increasing electricity demand. We can face these challenges by strengthening our domestic mineral supply chains, assuring we have a dependable grid, and balancing our energy portfolio. Access to mineral wealth. Sourcing minerals from environmentally sound, scientifically managed domestic mining operations is the best way to responsibly achieve our future energy goals. Timely and reliable access to the critical minerals needed for electric vehicles (EVs) and renewable energy are critical to the energy transition. The following are points of note: Mining requires long-term access to public lands for mineral exploration and development, and mine operation and reclamation.Mining companies must have security of land tenure throughout the mining life cycle, from prospecting to closure, to justify investing the hundreds of millions to billions of dollars required to find, develop and mine economic mineral deposits.The amendments to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) enacted in the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) of 2023 would streamline permitting for all of the kinds of projects.The permitting process to explore for minerals and develop a mine can take more than 15 years in the United States and often involves litigation. Congress needs to enact additional permit streamlining measures and litigation reforms to facilitate domestic mining. Left: WMC founders (from left to right): Debbie Struhsacker, Kathy Benedetto and Ruth Carraher. Right: WMC leadership team (from left to right): Hayley Rambur (vice president), Emily Hendrickson (president) and Lyndsey Wright (manager). Mining education and workforce development. The United States urgently needs more mining students and educational programs. The WMC supports the Mining Schools Act of 2023, which: Establishes a Department of Energy grant program for mining schools to receive funds to recruit students and to pay for studies, research projects and demonstration projects related to mineral production.Authorizes the appropriation of $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2024 through 2031 for this grant program.Creates the Mining Professional Development Advisory Board to evaluate applications, recommend recipients to the Secretary of Energy and conduct oversight to ensure that grant funds are appropriately used. There is an enormous disparity between the number of mining engineering schools and students in the United States compared to China. The United States has only 14 mining schools accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology Inc. (ABET). The estimated enrollment at these schools has rapidly declined from almost 1,500 in 2015 to just under 600 students today. Roughly 200 students are anticipated to graduate with bachelor of science degrees in mining engineering from U.S. schools this year. In comparison, China has at least 44 mining engineering schools that have reported aggregate enrollment of more than 1.4 million students. China’s domination over the world’s mineral supply chains extends beyond the mining and processing of minerals; it starts with educating the mining professional workforce. Planning begun for 2025 Fly-In As we look back on the 2024 Fly-In, we would like to thank our participants, sponsors and partners for their hard work during, and dedication to this event. It is what has and will continue to make the WMC Fly-In, and broader organization, so successful. We cannot thank you enough. Planning has already begun for next year, and we look forward to seeing you in DC in 2025. For more information, please contact Lyndsey Wright, WMC manager, at wearewmc@ wmc-usa.org.

Women’s Mining Coalition advocates for mining issues at 2024 Fly-In

Authored by:
Lyndsey Wright

To view the past issues of the UCA magazine you must be a member of SME/UCA.

From sessions to strategy: Revealing long-term and emerging innovation trends in data analytics, intelligent systems and automation

Mining education gets federal boost as industry faces workforce crunch

Critical minerals management on the federal seabed

From sessions to strategy: Revealing long-term and emerging innovation trends in data analytics, intelligent systems and automation

Mining education gets federal boost as industry faces workforce crunch

Critical minerals management on the federal seabed

To view the past issues of the UCA magazine you must be a member of SME/UCA.

Preparing America’s infrastructure for the massive adoption of clean energy

Chemical reactivity and alteration of pyrite mineral in the Kubi gold concession in Ghana

Related Articles

Copper stockpiling, transformation capacity and industrial synchronization in the US

Critical minerals management on the federal seabed

Critical minerals: Technical and policy considerations

Historic day in Washington DC for mining education

From sessions to strategy: Revealing long-term and emerging innovation trends in data analytics, intelligent systems and automation

Mining education gets federal boost as industry faces workforce crunch

Critical minerals management on the federal seabed

From sessions to strategy: Revealing long-term and emerging innovation trends in data analytics, intelligent systems and automation

Mining education gets federal boost as industry faces workforce crunch

Critical minerals management on the federal seabed

Use Single Sign On