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Show tfae Daw hearimig plamnmed Flb. IS m Giramxd! Jet Congressman Abraham Kazen, Jr. (D-Tex.), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Mines and mining of the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, has announced that the Subcommittee would hold a second field hearing on proposals to reform the Mining Law of 1872 in Grand Junction, Colo., on Saturday, Feb. 18. The Subcommittee held three days of hearings on the legislation in Washington during October, and the first field hearing in Phoenix, Ariz., on Dec. 12 and 13, 1977. In announcing the hearing for Colorado, Chairman Kazan stated that other hearings are planned for Nevada and Washington State. The exact dates have not yet been set, but the Subcommittee will complete all of its hearings early this year, according to Kazan. The century old mining law permits persons to enter Federally owned lands in the West to prospect for hard-rock minerals such as gold, silver and copper. If the prospector discovers a valuable mineral deposit which can be marketed at a profit, he can obtain a patent to the land from the government. Although the law remains basically the same as when first enacted in 1920 certain minerals such as oil, natural gas, coal and phosphates were removed from its operation and made subject to a leasing system. The principal bill which will be considered is H.R. 5831, introduced by Congressman Philip Ruppe (R-Mich.). The bill would modify the present location-patent system and would require the payment of a royalty to the United States on the minerals produced. Another bill, H.R. 9292, introduced by Congressman Congress-man Phillip Burton (D-Calif.) and supported by the Administration, would substitute a leasing system for the present law. The hearing on Feb. 18 will begin, at 9:30 a.m. at the Ramada Inn, 718 Horizon Drive (near the airport), Grand Junction. Persons wishing to testify should notify the Subcommittee Subcom-mittee either in writing or by telephone no later than Feb. 15. Mailed requests should be sent to the Subcommittee on Mines and Mining, 1324 Longworth Building, Washington, D.C. 20515, or telephone tele-phone requests to: (202) 225-1661. Witnesses are asked to provide at least 15 copies of their testimony at the time they testify, and only one copy if submitting statement for the record. In order to give the Subcommittee Subcom-mittee members ample opportunity to direct questions to the witnesses, individuals testifying in person will be required to summarize their testimony in not more than five minutes. More lengthy written statements may be submitted for the record. Material supplied to support the statements will be placed in the Committee files where it will be available for the information of the members. Persons and organizations sharing shar-ing a common position on the legislation should arrange to appear as a panel, to the extent possible, with one person designated designat-ed to state their common position and the remainder of the panelists being available to respond to questions put by the members of the Subcommittee. |