Governance of Mining

Because of the struggling economies in many nations gold is becoming more and more popular. When the dollar gets week the value of gold increases. This results in the increase in illegal gold mines. The top producers of gold are the United State, Australia and South Africa. Most of the illegal mining pops up in the less developed countries that do not have strong governance on the gold mining industry such Colombia, Peru, Ghana and Venezuela. The laws used in gold the gold mining industry are set to protect miners, the environment and the established organizations in the industry. Gold mining is dangerous because mercury is often used to wash ore in fresh water streams which also provide water for surrounding communities. Mercury can be very toxic.

The US gold mining Industry must comply with laws and regulations governed by the federal, local and state government. These laws and regulations control how mines are operated and how the land used for mining is reclaimed. The Chaffee law of 1866 and the Placer law of 1870 were combined to create the General Mining Act of 1872. The act was designed to create expansion in the west. The law however ignored any environmental concerns. More control was gained back by the government with the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920. It makes it harder for miners to qualify for a lease by limiting the number of acres of a particular mineral that can be held by a lessee, and disallows foreign ownership of leases except through stock ownership in a corporation. The 1993 Hardrock Mining Reform Act sustained the right to patent, while making the requirements to mine federal lands stricter and more costly. The Mineral Exploration & Development Act of 1993 restricted the access of minors to federal lands, significantly increased the cost of mining, and eliminated citizens rights to patent.