The 2024 CMA Annual Golf Tournament was a success again with 113 players on 29 teams and 14 generous sponsors. This annual event has been wildly popular and is an excellent opportunity for CMA members to connect with others in the industry during a golf day at an outstanding course. CMA is thankful to those who participated in this year’s tournament and would like to thank our sponsors for making the event possible! Energy Fuels Inc, Wagner Equipment, SRK Consulting, Trapper Mining, Subterranean Boring Inc., Equipment Trucks Inc., Brooks & Nelson, LLC, Loenbro, Molycop, Veolia, Aggreko, Purple Wave Auction, TechStar, and VEGA Americas, Inc.
On August 5, CMA filed a protest in response to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) proposed Gunnison Sage Grouse Resource Management Plan Amendment (RMPA) and Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS). The RMPA covers approximately 25 million acres of land in Southwestern Colorado and Eastern Utah and encompasses nine separate individual RMPs in Colorado, two in Utah. The preferred alternative selected by BLM would apply significant surface use restrictions across the covered acreage and proposes the withdrawal of 89,340 acres of land from location and entry under the General Mining Law. CMA’s protest highlights the inconsistency between the current Administration’s positive developments to support domestic clean energy production including the recently enacted ban on the import of Russian uranium and the Department of Energy’s initiatives to ramp up domestic nuclear energy production, and the BLM’s contradictory effort to bar future exploration of domestic uranium and vanadium in one of the Nation’s richest uranium mineral deposits. The protest also underscores some of the legal vulnerabilities of the preferred alternatives and encourages BLM to correct course.
CMA also filed a Responsive Prehearing Statement in response to the Water Quality Control Division’s revisions to the Colorado discharge permit system regulations, regulations #61. The current process has resulted in confusion and delays for CMA members, and CMA’s Responsive Prehearing Statement urges the Division to establish a process that ensures comments on permits are posted online in a timely manner and provided to permittees via email immediately after the comment period has ended.
CMA is looking forward to working with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce as we welcome the Chamber’s second annual Critical Minerals Mission to Denver next month. The Chamber has selected Colorado, the hub of mining in the U.S., to host its program focused on the future of mining and critical minerals development. CMA will participate in multiple panels along with other industry representatives and elected officials. CMA hopes to continue its partnership with the Canadian Chamber and support Colorado’s role as a global leader in mining and mining investment in the critical minerals space.
Please join CMA at MINExpo 2024 in Las Vegas from September 24–26! MINExpo is the world’s largest mining industry trade show, held only once every four years. We’re looking forward to this opportunity to meet industry colleagues and share CMA’s great work with the over 40,000 attendees.
Finally, CMA will be hosting our annual Legislative Reception on January 9, 2025, at the Brown Palace Hotel in Denver. The 2024 Legislative Reception was one of the best in years with record attendance from legislators. For several years, CMA has shared the venue and date with the Colorado Chamber of Commerce’s Legislative Reception. Given the success of both events, we’ve decided to continue the tradition as both receptions will be at the Brown Palace on the same evening again next year. Remember to mark the date on your calendars for this outstanding opportunity to meet with members of the Colorado General Assembly to discuss issues important to mining.
Adam Eckman
President & CEO
Colorado Mining Association
