ICYMI: Luján Pens Washington Post Letter to the Editor Pushing to Modernize Broken Mining Law While Protecting Public Resources
Washington, D.C. – In Case You Missed It: U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) published a letter to the editor in The Washington Post arguing that failure to update the 1872 Mining Law has allowed mining practices that breed conflict and mistrust. Additionally, Senator Luján highlighted his Mining Waste, Fraud, and Abuse Prevention Act of 2025, legislation that would reform the 1872 Mining Law while protecting public lands and taxpayers.
Senator Luján’s letter to the editor comes as Congressional Republicans recently passed legislation stripping protections from the Boundary Waters in Minnesota, and as the Trump administration moves to fast-track uranium exploration in the Chama watershed.
Read the full letter to the editor here or below:
Washington Post: Sen. Ben Ray Luján: Reform the 154-year-old mining law
By Ben Ray Luján | May 3, 2026
Regarding the April 9 op-ed “It should take two years to open a mine. Why does it take 29?” by Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming):
Lummis is right that permitting needs reform. But the claim that it takes an average of 29 years to open a mine, which comes from a report by S&P Global Market Intelligence that was supported by the National Mining Association, was wrongly skewed because it included some of the country’s most contested proposals. Massive projects such as Pebble Mine in Alaska and Resolution Copper in Arizona were mired in conflicts, including opposition from local communities and tribal nations, that the U.S.’s 154-year-old mining law was not designed to resolve. The report also did not include dozens of recently permitted mines.
I know what bad mining policy looks like. The Trump administration reversed protections for New Mexico’s Upper Pecos watershed, leaving 165,000 acres open to hardrock mining over the unanimous objection of communities and tribal nations still cleaning up a mine that closed in 1939. The administration is now fast-tracking uranium exploration in the Chama watershed, which supplies drinking water across northern New Mexico and still bears the scars of its uranium mining history.
New Mexico isn’t alone. Congress recently passed legislation to strip Boundary Waters protections in Minnesota and reopen the door to sulfide-ore copper mining that could contaminate lakes and streams that millions of Americans depend on.
The real permitting problem is not too much process but an outdated system that breeds conflict and mistrust. My Mining Waste, Fraud, and Abuse Prevention Act would fix that. Lummis wants certainty for industry. New Mexicans want certainty that their water will be drinkable. Both are possible — but not without an honest diagnosis.
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