Robert Colombo On Mining
I have read Mr. Carron's missive on Ely and the surrounding wilderness more times than I can count and I still can't get my arms around what the heck it is that you're trying to say. My interest in this debate is simple; Joe Folio is my childhood neighbor from James Street and when I saw his name I felt compelled to bore down a little deeper and find out what ignited the back-n-forth with you, et.al.
I'm an Elyite by birth. Through church, school and sports I grew up with the Rom family and finer people you will never meet - period. My school year memories of time spent with the Rom kids are as vivid today as when they occurred. I certainly respect their commitment to wilderness conservation, but with little exception I've planted my flag on a more broad-based side of the issue; multiple use. That said; I'll save the conservation points for another time and focus today on the thesis of your memo - mining.
I lived in Durango Colorado for 25 years and have seen first-hand the green and yellow water that flows from the mines in the Rockies. Not good. But keep in mind that the majority of super-fund mines you reference were either working properties or shuttered long before limestone or calcium technology was available to neutralize ARD (acid rock discharge).
Infinite details aside, limestone technology is like taking Tums for heartburn before you even have heartburn - neutralize it before ever gets started.
I am now retired and live in Brazil. For nearly 40 years I catered to the mining industry and for 30 years I traveled the world. I've been a contractor/supplier to the largest mining companies in this market and I've seen it all: the good, the bad and the truly ugly.
I'm only going to give you the short list of work assignment countries: Canada, US, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil, Chile, South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, the D.R. of Congo, India, Indonesia, Australia, Ireland and half of Europe and the most fascinating country to watch grow, China. Again, I've seen it all.
Mining, by design, is a limited time offer. It's the nature of the business¹. Anyone who works in mining knows this fact. Estimated mine life is part of the business. Some ore bodies last hundreds of years while some only last 10 years, but we know those facts going in and we accept them. To prove my point, the globe is covered with ghost towns that used to be vibrant mining communities. An example would be Aspen, Colorado- you've heard of Aspen haven't you Mr. Carron?
If your desire is to turn Ely into the another Aspen, Reid, then please, take a number and wait your turn because Ely isn't quite ready to roll over and become a ghost town that will rise from the ashes as a hang-out for the rich.
Unlike manufacturing where plants can be built where a corporation wants them, "raw material extraction" (your words) has to take place where God puts them. Mine life is determined by the ore body yield, the technology to extract it at a profit and global demand for the products that can be manufactured from said specific commodity, i.e. copper, iron, aluminum, lead, zinc, silver, gold, platinum and PMGs iridium, rhodium, nickel, chrome, diamonds and let's not forget our fuels: uranium, coal, oil and natural gas.
The flavor of the month is lithium. Electric cars, iPads, iPods, iPhones, notebooks, servers, mainframes, gaming controls, lithium ion batteries for every appliance under the sun - anything digital is driving up the cost of lithium: so guess what, unless you have a better idea, more new mines.
So with all this venom and fear mongering that you spew about mining, your letter lacks one massive glowing omission; what is your solution to solve the problem? What do suggest we do, Mr. Carron?
There are over five-billion people on the face of the earth and we are all responsible for the consumption of specific values of each extracted element - "x" tons of concrete, tons of steel, pounds of copper, cubic feet of LNG, barrels of oil, gallons of gas, ounces of gold, carats of diamonds and again, the list goes on.
So please tell me Mr. Carron - what is your solution? I'll help you with the answer; there is no solution. I know it, you know it, we all know it. It is what it is; live with it.
As long as the population of the world continues to grow, so does the demand for raw materials. Never lose sight of the fact that everything we consume is either grown, pumped or dug from the earth. Unless you are willing to live in a cave, eat what you kill and wear the skin of said animal, not much is going to change in the way of raw material consumption and by default, extraction.
Which brings me to my next question: why should I not consider you a self-centered and selfish individual? If you've done anything at all, Reid, it's expose yourself as an aggressive promoter of "not in my back yard."
Do you care if Brazil (the Amazon rain forest) is the largest miner/exporter of iron, that Chile is the largest miner/exporter of copper, that South Africa is the largest miner/exporter of diamonds? Our neighbors, Canada and Mexico, are the number 1 and number 2 exporters of oil to the US.
Do you even know what the tar-sands of Alberta looks like after the oil is extracted? I get the feeling that you really don't care just as long as nothing, and I mean nothing, disrupts your personal life style.
The industry that you would appear to scorn, even loath, is the number one contributor to the state treasury of Minnesota. The University of Minnesota/Duluth just issued a report on the impact of mining in Minnesota and can be viewed at the attached link.
To paraphrase the report: if all the new mining projects come to fruition, the state economy would benefit by $7.7 billion with 27,000 total jobs of medium to high pay. I only mention this since it seems you may have inadvertently forgot to include this little tidbit in your missive.
Finally: I'm almost certain that you are not doing a very good job of ingratiating yourself with the locals whose families are third and fourth generation miners.
Really Reid (?) "...resource-extraction communities are poorer and less well-educated than communities that look elsewhere for economic well-being." Being a little condescending, aren't we? Please keep in mind that the Rom kids and Joe Folio along with all the rest of us, have our feet firmly planted in the Ely educational system and the roots of that system run deep.
There was a time when the Ely school system was one of the best in the country and the mining industry, mainly US Steel, paid the freight for much of what we had. Either directly or indirectly, mining built our schools, hospitals, community centers, city halls, skating rinks, swimming beaches, municipal infrastructure and a host of gifts and grants that proved, without a doubt, that they were more than just an employer, but a partner in our lives. I think you owe someone an apology.
To my buddy Joe Folio; paean for us all and our little town.
Abraços e que Deus te abençoe. (Portuguese)
Robert Colombo
Ouro Preto, MG, Brazil
¹ Of the 400 direct mining jobs that disappeared when the mines closed in Ely, some miners took early retirement with a specific benefit package, some found instant employment at the Peter Mitchell mine in Babbitt or at Erie Mining, but the vast majority took transfers (including benefits and seniority) to the new US Steel mine called Minntac in Mountain Iron. Thus started the car-pools that still exist to this day, all-be-it in much smaller numbers than in the '60s.