U.S. mining has “a world-class resource base, but we’re being shackled by a worst-in-class permitting system,” says Hal Quinn.
RENO (MINEWEB) – Hal P. Quinn, the president and CEO of the National Mining Association, believes the people employed in U.S. mining is the strongest asset the industry possesses.
In a recent interview with Mineweb, Quinn expressed confidence the new Republican-controlled Senate may accord the U.S. mining industry the access, the airing of concerns and the vetting of legislation that the industry has come to rely on in the U.S. House.
Convincing both houses of Congress that streamlining of mining permitting on the federal level is vital to the future of U.S. manufacturing and related industries is one of Quinn’s foremost goals over the next two years as a new U.S. President is chosen in 2016.
Appointed as chief of the National Mining Association in 2008, Attorney Quinn has been working in and around the mining industry for more than 25 years ever since he joined the Mining and Reclamation Council of America as legal counsel in the 1980s, which was subsequently merged into the National Coal Association in 1987, and then merged with the American Mining Congress in 1995, becoming the National Mining Association.
When asked what he likes most about mining, Quinn declared, “I really enjoy the people. I think that’s the strongest asset our industry has; they’re all very innovative and dedicated. When you’re working for an industry that is so essential to everybody’s standard of living and providing for the needs of society, you really have to feel good about the people you’re representing to have a policy environment that is going to help them be successful.
“Because you know that, when it all comes down it, if the mining industry is not successful, then this country is not going to succeed. Whether we’re talking about energy, manufacturing, infrastructure, technology, national defense, that’s what we’re all about. We’re part of that. We’re the front end of the supply chain on all that.”
In many cases relationships already existed with the aforementioned sectors, Quinn acknowledged. “What we’ve been striving to do over the past five or six years is to strengthen them and tie them closer together. There are a lot of issues that all these sectors of the economy, these industries, have in common.
“But I think what we’ve done over the last four, five years is drill down and show them that we have specific needs, too, and that it’s in their interest in helping us be successful in formulating the right policies to support us remaining competitive and moving forward so we can feed their sectors with the minerals, metals and materials they need so they can be competitive,” he said.
For the rest of this article, click here: http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/content/en/mineweb-political-economy?oid=259912&sn=Detail