Nov. 26, 2008 - On Nov. 18 Carol Marshall and Bob Wilder, representing a group called the Sierra Nevada Mining and Industry Council (SNMIC), addressed the Grass Valley Planning Commission to voice their organization's support for Emgold Mining Corporation's proposed hardrock gold mine that would be built on private land just two miles from downtown. "I am secretary and one of the seven directors at Sierra Nevada Mining and Industry Council... we desire to preserve our constitutional rights, preserve the Mining Law of 1872 and prevent the loss of any of our rights through legislation or judicial interpretation," said Marshall.
Yesterday, YubaNet talked to Wilder, SNMIC's president, who said the group is a non-profit "recognized by the state." But he didn't know what kind of non-profit and suggested we call Marshall for any documentation. He said SNMIC has approximately 150 members.
Marshall said she didn't know what kind of non-profit they were either, but could call their treasurer - as soon as he returns from the Thanksgiving holiday next week.
Marshall asked why we were so interested in "scrutinizing" the group. We explained YubaNet had never heard of the group prior to the meeting and that it's normal to seek basic background information.
On its Home page, the group's website says it is "an educational, non-profit, voluntary association of persons interested in the conscientious, responsible development of our natural resources for industry and recreation on both public and private lands." It was formed in 1989, according to information on the About Us page.
If you've never heard of SNMIC, you're in good company. Neither has the IRS, Franchise Tax Board, Secretary of State, or Attorney General's Office. There is no organization by that name in any of their databases, according to spokespersons at all four agencies.
"In order to get tax-exempt status, organizations must first apply to the IRS, which grants a letter of determination of tax exemption. Then, they [the organization] fill out a short application with the Franchise Tax Board, with a copy of the federal determination letter. We accept that and also grant tax-exempt status," said Denise Azimi, a public affairs officer at the Franchise Tax Board.
According to Jesse Weller at IRS media relations in Oakland, "the IRS has not issued a letter of determination to the organization stating the organization is tax-exempt."
A Google search on SNMIC yields their website: www.miningcouncil.org, and not much more. The website had scant information at the time this article was published:
Under the site's Monthly Meeting section is published: "There are no "Monthly Meetings" items released on this web site at this time
Under Newsletter: "There are no "Newsletter" items released on this web site at this time.
Under Articles:"There are no "Articles" items released on this web site at this time.
Under Forum: "There are no "Forum" items released on this web site at this time."
The Contact Page lists no phone number or physical address.
Nowhere on the site is the name of any officer, board member or staff.
The simplest way to learn more about a website is to run a WHOIS query on the domain name. For example, if you type "whois miningcouncil.org" in your browser, one of the results is this page: http://whois.domaintools.com/miningcouncil.org
The query shows who registered this domain name - Elle Bradbury - and her email address: ebradbury@langmining.com . Other information includes:
Admin Name: Elle Bradbury
Admin Organization: Sierra Nevada Mining Industry Council
Admin Street1: PO Box 1836
Admin Street2: 179 Clydesdale Court:
Admin City: Grass Valley
Admin State/Province: CA
Admin Postal Code: 95945
The query shows the domain name was registered on Jan. 18, 2008. The SNMIC website is hosted in Vancouver, BC - where both Emgold and Lang Mining are headquartered.
Lang Mining Group is the parent company of Emgold Mining Corporation (www.langmining.com). Until recently, Frank Lang was Emgold's chairman.
The address listed for SNMIC's website administrator is 179 Clydesdale court - Emgold's office in Grass Valley.
According to the California Employment Development Department (EDD), in Oct. 2008 Nevada County had 3,480 jobs classified "natural resources, mining and construction." Because there are so few active mines in California, EDD doesn't separate the number of mining jobs.
Doug Mattson, author of YubaNet's Special Report on the proposed project, learned that the last time the Sierra Economic Development District (SEDD) recorded strictly mining jobs in Nevada County was in 2000, where there were 3 operations that employed an average of 19 employees a month. At that time, the state had a total 16 active mines, all of them small. SEDD no longer provides monthly employment figures by industry for Nevada County. They are available on EDD's website, under Labor Market Info.
In the private sector, the Oct. 2008 figure of 3,480 natural resource, mining and construction jobs in Nevada County was exceeded by service providing (24,330 jobs); trade, transportation and utilities (5,180); goods producing (5,550); leisure and hospitality (4,500); and retail trade (4,200).
Which begs the question: Is a thriving, modern city that closed its last hardrock metal mine in the middle of the last century a "mining town?" SNMIC would say yes. The people who own the hundreds of homes and businesses that now surround the proposed cyanidation gold mine would perhaps give a different answer.
SNMIC states on its website that one of its main goals is to "promote and support the preservation of the Mining Law of 1872." Left virtually unchanged since it was signed by Ulysses S. Grant 136 years ago, it allows the hardrock mining industry to take minerals from public lands for free - unlike oil, gas and coal companies.
On Nov. 13 the House Democratic Caucus re-elected Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV) to serve as Chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources. Rahall released a statement of his goals for the 111th Congress, one of them being the reform of the antiquated law: "...it is almost inconceivable that, in this day and age, valuable minerals such as gold and silver from our public lands are mined for free, with no royalty paid to the American people. This corporate welfare must end through reform of the Mining Law of 1872."
The Environmental Working Group recently conducted an analysis of metal mining claims on public lands within 5 miles of cities and towns in the West and found they mushroomed from 35,350 to more than 51,000 between 2003 and 2008 - an increase of more than 46 percent. To see how close mining claims on public lands are to your home, go to EWG's website and type in your zip code.
Editor's note: Since publication of this article, the SNMIC website has been completely redesigned.
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