{"id":247,"date":"2011-09-15T11:45:55","date_gmt":"2011-09-15T17:45:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/?p=247"},"modified":"2011-11-23T10:01:00","modified_gmt":"2011-11-23T17:01:00","slug":"mining-looking-for-growth-in-old-places","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/2011\/09\/15\/mining-looking-for-growth-in-old-places\/","title":{"rendered":"Mining: Looking for Growth in Old Places"},"content":{"rendered":"

The creation and growth of most western states was a direct result of the mining industries that developed in the late 1800s.\u00a0 In Idaho, it was silver and gold.\u00a0 Mining and other traditional natural resources have taken a big hit in the last decade, but industry representatives and some economists believe they’re still a major player in Idaho’s 21st Century economy.<\/p>\n

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Jeff Perkell \/ Getty Images<\/p>

Idaho's mining industry is known for its silver, molybdenum and phosphorus<\/p><\/div>\n

“It (mining) might not be the largest industry in the state,” said Jack Lyman, Executive Vice President of the Idaho Mining Association (IMA), “but it’s certainly an important industry in our state.”<\/p>\n

The Idaho Division of Financial Management said the state’s mining industry grew four percent in 2010 and it projects “consistent gains” through 2014.<\/p>\n

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“Mining is benefiting from high metal prices.” – Derek Santos, Economist, Division of Financial Management<\/address>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In fact, the average price of an ounce of silver has doubled<\/a> from August 2010 compared with August 2011.\u00a0 Still, Lyman says its difficult to forecast potential growth because the industry’s fate is largely dependent upon global commodity prices.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Lyman, and the Idaho Mining Association, represent the large operations in Idaho like Monsanto and Hecla Mining Company<\/a>.\u00a0 He said the IMA’s mines are making long-term investments to expand existing mines.<\/p>\n

“Hecla Mining is going to invest an additional $200 million to dig the Lucky Friday Mine<\/a> deeper, almost to the 2,000 foot level,” said Lyman, “which will lengthen its production life.”<\/p>\n

Silver is just one of Idaho’s mining main-stays.\u00a0 The state also produces molybdenum, phosphate, lead, zinc and copper.<\/p>\n

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molybdenumpowder.com<\/p>

Molybdenum, used to strengthen steel<\/p><\/div>\n

At least two molybdenum mines are also trying to expand their operations.\u00a0 Lyman said the Thompson Creek Mine<\/a> is in the process of expanding so the mine’s life will extend to the year 2025. Meanwhile, another mining company has begun exploratory drilling in a massive moly deposit in south-central Idaho. It’s known as the CUMO<\/a>\u00a0Mine Project.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The creation and growth of most western states was a direct result of the mining industries that developed in the late 1800s.\u00a0 In Idaho, it was silver and gold.\u00a0 Mining and other traditional natural resources have taken a big hit in the last decade, but industry representatives and some economists believe they’re still a major […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":249,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[60,50,51],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2271,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247\/revisions\/2271"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}