Tuesday, February 15, 2011

5% royalty proposed on new mines on federal lands



The federal budget proposal released yesterday includes a provision for a 5% royalty on minerals produced from new mines on federal lands. The New York Times report says this is viewed as a first step at changing mining to a leasing system similar to that for oil and gas resources.

This would be the first such royalties ever imposed.

[right, mining claims on federal lands, 2010. Credit, USGS]