Miners Hope To Boost Public Image

Mining leaders left the Northwest Mining Association Convention Friday with plans to change the public’s low perception of the industry.

Few in the industry or at this week’s convention question the image problems mining has. However, with a renewed effort on the part of the Clinton Administration and environmental groups to attack new and existing mining projects, the need for a coordinated image campaign has increased.

If mining executives and representatives would hone their skills with the media - particularly television reporters - they could have more control of the images the public sees, said Carl Benscheidt of Benscheidt Productions Inc. of Spokane, a media consulting firm.

One mining group will try a more pro-active approach to reaching the public. The Gold Institute will place newspaper ads and produce television spots touting gold’s benefits to society, said John Lutley, executive director of the institute.

The “advertorials” will appear in major publications and explain, for example, how downed pilot Scott O’Grady was rescued in Bosnia by a variety of electronic devices that feature gold as a critical element.

“Even in mining-heavy states like Nevada, more than half the people surveyed had no idea about the industry,” Lutley said.

Mining companies need to go on the offensive to educate the public about aspects of mining like how mines are reclaimed and returned to a natural state, said Ivan Urnovitz, government relations manager for the Northwest Mining Association.

The reclamation aspects of the controversial New World Mine project have gone virtually unheard, said Joseph Baylis, president of Crown Butte Mines Inc. He’s fighting to start the project, located two miles outside Yellowstone National Park.

“Unlike what the environmentalists would like you to believe, the mine area is not a pristine wilderness,” Baylis said. “It’s more like an industrial wasteland, and we took steps to improve it.”

A state study shows that the project would actually improve parts of Fisher Creek, where the mine would be located, Baylis said. “I’d be the first one to tell you we haven’t been as aggressive as we should have been on promoting these points.”

Attendance for the 101st convention rose to 3,300 delegates this year, up from about 3,000 last year.

, DataTimes