Domestic Mine Development On Increase

The flight of exploration dollars from North America to corners of Indonesia, Chile and other mining hotspots continues. But many have overlooked recent strength on the domestic mining front, a mining analyst said Friday.

In last year alone, eight new mines opened, nine more were approved to be built by various boards of directors, four current mines restarted production and dozens of companies found ample financing for mining project in the United States, said Douglas Silver of Balfour Holdings Inc. of Denver.

“That’s pretty good for an industry that has been considered dead and buried here,” Silver told delegates on the final day of the Northwest Mining Association Convention in Spokane. “We get so caught up in the international activity that we forget we are a giant producer of minerals.”

Recent expansions and new mines financed by Inland Northwest mining companies were a major contributor to the new-found domestic vigor. Despite languishing silver prices, the Silver Valley has seen two mines re-open, two others expand, and initial financing to reopen a fifth.

Still, mining companies fed up with waiting half a decade to obtain permits for new metals finds are still racking up frequent flier miles while exploring Australia and Asian countries, Silver said.

For 1997, Alaska seems to be “the place to be,” Silver said. Coeur d’Alene Mines Corp. likely will announce its intentions for its Kensington Mine near Juneau, which could become a giant gold producer for the company.

Convention Notes:

While the 4,000-delegate number turned out to be a little overstated, the convention did draw more than 3,500 - more people than last year. It did, however, receive scant publicity even from traditional mining publications that usually flock to these kinds of meetings.

Several journalists said the lack of high-ranking mining officials and less programming has taken the edge off the meeting

New NWMA Executive Director Laura Skaer vows to travel to Microsoft Inc. headquarters and try to woo Bill Gates as a member. “Without mining, you don’t get any computers and that means you don’t sell any software,” she said, only somewhat facetiously. The association wants to show companies that they couldn’t operate without mining.

Richard Duncan of Placer Dome Inc. said silver prices likely will remain where they area for several years because “demand and supply are in balance.”

, DataTimes