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Show Page ten The National Enterprise , January 12, 1977 Intermountain Stock Exchange Closes 1976 with Impressive Gains BLM Regulations Will Ruin Mining Industry Continued from page three Winn, once general manager of Kennecott Coppers Nevada operations, now speaking for the Nevada Mining Association. According to Salt Lake mining consultant Trent Parker, Theyre tampering with the very pituitary gland of the economy. Indeed, while the BLM proceeds to make a park of the entire West for environmentalists, unnoticed goes the fact that 75 percent of the gross national product is indirectly linked to mining. "Few mined products are purchased or used by the public in a form that can be identified with mining, said Jean S. Cline, a geologist for Inspiration Consolidated NeverCopper Company. theless, it supplies food, fuel, and materials to feed, clothe, and house us and to sustain nearly all productive industry. misrepresentation. Any- one who takes the time to read these regulations can quickly see the BLM is not honest. They claim they dont want to hurt mining, yet nothing can be done on mining claims without their bureaucratic approval. If the BLMs past record on coal leasing, sodium leasing, and other leasing programs is any indication of the administration of this one, mining on BLM ground will drown in a sea of red tape and procrastination. The question prevails, where can they demonstrate need? The disturbance caused by mining is microin fact, but one tenth of one percent of all lands in the U.S. have been scopic used for mining. Theres no justification for this regulation, Mock declared. It is quite excessive. Thats not to say onmental abuse is The scars of some non-existe- Decrease Discoveries But inflationary costs of compliance with the regulation (something the BLM blatantly denies exists) will no doubt decrease the number of mineral discoveries. And considering the fact that 95 percent of all discoveries are made by small prospectors who will be excluded by costs, prohibitive front-en- d the consequences could be devastating. The mining industry, the experts agree, is fast becoming the most industry alive. And many fear for its very survival. Ahead lies loss of jobs, inflation increases on imported minerals, perpetual depression for communities whose livelihood depends on mining, an eventual shift of the U.S. industrial base to light manufacturing, a sliding balance of payments, and increasing vulnerability to supply interruptions of minerals from abroad. Mining people believe a over-regulat- ed life-sustaini- ng shamless statement contained in the proposal makes a mockery of the Mining Law of 1872: It is the policy of this Department to encourage the development of the mineral resources under its jurisdiction where mining operations are authorized. To the contrary, says Byron Mock, envir- a Salt Lake the attorney who public land law review committee. Regulations such as this only further impede the development of public lands and increase the costs to the point that a small miner loses the ability to surrmount even threshold operations. co-chair- ed Parker contends the regulation and BLM press release are prime pieces of nt. operations are absolutely Mock acknowcriminal, ledged. But I dont believe theres a mining company in existence today that isnt cognizant of environmental factors and consequently trying to do something about it, Donald Springer adds. Compounding red tape and adding inflationary costs is no way to "encourage the development of mineral resources. Rotten From Within Whats to be done? Besides encouraging industry members to write their congressmen, Howard Winn suggests the entire regulation be scrapped and a fresh start made. This regulation does not result in carrying out the wishes of the Congress as they are embodied in the Organic Act, he said. The philosophy is wrong. Probably fueled by protests of environmentalists to preserve the pristine beauty of arid clay lands like Nevada, the regulation is admittedly not in the spirit of either the Mining Law or NEPA. But the problem runs deeper than that. Granted, the proposal could stand revision, but that will not preclude the BLM from promulgating future proposals just as heinous. The procedures to minimize ad- verse environmental Furious trading of Tintic area mining stocks during December again raised the Intermountain Stock Exchange price index to its highest level since its inception in August 1974. The index, or the avearage bid price of exclusively listed ISE stocks, closed at 47.258 in December 1976, 54 percent higher than the December 1975 close of 30.636, and 70 percent higher than the August 1974 figure of 27.671. For the year, total volume on the Exchange was 3,262,623 shares, with total value of $657,245. Both figures are slightly above 1975s volume of 3,167,036 shares valued at $552,099. Decembers monthly volume of 632,001 shares is a striking increase over December 1975s volume of 345,517 shares. And likewise, value increased this month to $96,148, compared to last years monthly figure of $49,499. Though the Tintic mining stocks showed broad gains, shares. Exchange president Ernest Muth said if the present trend continues, the Exchange may need to extend its one-hotrading session and hire additional people to deal with the intensifying volume of paperwork. But we can still do a lot more trading in the one hour we are presently open, Muth said. An extension of hours remains to be seen. ur Amercian S&L Seeks Permission to Merge LAKE CITY American Savings and Loan SALT Association (OTC 10.25, 11.00) has asked the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corp. for permission to merge its Salt Lake based company with Pacific Savings and Loan Association of Honolulu. According to Howard Bradshaw, president of American, the Hawaii firm has assets of $60 million, about ten percent of Americans total. "We would be adding more branches, and adding to our profitability, he said about the potential merger. The move is part of a stated expansion program currently underway by American's board of directors, Bradshaw acknowledged. Pacific has seven offices in Hawaii, six of which are located in Honolulu, American already has 23 offices in the Islands. HealthGarde TO WEST FIFTH SOUTH SALT LAKE CITY S4101 (Ml) S31-77- N The computer has a greater potential in patient care than any other invention, including the stethoscope and the X-r-ay machine. Mr. Ken Hanson American Medical News im- pacts are simply a common characteristic of power. Unchecked, it is the outgrowth of a bureaucracy that feeds upon its own authority. Under the guise of good intentions, the BLM could one day bring to their knees both the miners and Clyde Summerhays, executive secretary of the ISE, said Comtel, an electronics firm had the highest volume during the month of 233,999 HEALTHGARDE CORPORATION Medical Computers for the Modern Hospital OUR NASDAQ SYMBOL IS HGRD |