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Securing America's Future Minerals Supply

One of the few sectors that consistently added jobs in 2011 was U.S. minerals mining. Today, this industry supports 1.1 million American jobs nationwide 1.1 million American jobs and has enabled modern products such as aircraft, medical equipment and state-of-the-art electronics to come to fruition.

Some of the fastest growing industries in America—including high tech, automotive manufacturing and renewable energy—rely on minerals to operate. In a December 2011 PricewaterhouseCoopers study , 67 percent of respondents—senior executives in these industries worldwide—said they expect their companies to be affected by minerals and metals supply scarcity in the next five years.

Hal Quinn, president of the National Mining Association, reflects, “If we are to foster American ingenuity, build a stable economy and create jobs in 2012 and beyond, the U.S. portfolio for growth must include a secure, domestic minerals supply. We must not allow our nation’s minerals needs to go unmet, especially when these very resources help put Americans back to work and drive our economy.”

News Release - Mining Economic Impact tops $850 million

Idaho’s large mining companies were responsible for more than $857 million of economic impact in 2010 according to the Idaho Mining Association. That economic impact added nearly $100 million in tax revenue to state and local coffers. These figures come from an economic impact study recently completed by Idaho Economics, a local economic forecasting firm.

The study concluded IMA members were directly responsible for $467million of personal income earned in Idaho. The payrolls of these companies accounted for $251 million of the gain in total personal income. An additional direct economic impact of $216 million came from the purchases of goods and services from vendors in the Idaho economy.

In addition, more than $390 million was added to total personal income in Idaho as a secondary result of this direct economic activity. In total, the direct and secondary economic impacts resulting from the operations of these companies generated more than $857 million in personal income for Idaho residents during 2010. More than $558 million of the total impact was in Southeast Idaho (Caribou, Bannock and Power Counties); $115 million in Central Idaho (Custer and Lemhi Counties); and almost $184 million in North Idaho (Kootenai and Shoshone Counties).

The state of Idaho realized tax revenues from the direct economic impact of the wages and salaries paid to employees as well as the impact of the good and services obtained from Idaho suppliers. Additional tax revenues result from the secondary impacts of these direct expenditures. Local governments receive property tax revenue from the companies, their employees and those who derive their employment from the secondary impacts of the mining activities. The state of Idaho also receives corporate, sales and mine license fee revenues and rents and royalties from the IMA companies. Finally, the companies pay federal royalties when the mines are located on federal lands. Under federal law, half of those royalties are returned to the state.

In total, the direct and secondary economic activity generated in the state of Idaho by the IMA members in 2010 resulted in nearly $96 million in tax, license, and royalty revenues to state and local government entities. With 2,860 direct jobs, this means each job generated about $33,500 in state and local tax revenue.
IMA represents seven large mining companies in Idaho. They are Agrium Conda Phosphate, Coeur d’Alene Mines Corporation, Hecla Mining Company, Monsanto Company, J.R. Simplot Company, Thompson Creek Mining Company and U.S. Silver Corporation. The association does not represent smaller mining companies or those who mine sand, gravel, cement or decorative and dimensional stone.

The Idaho Geological Survey estimates that minerals worth $917 million were mined in Idaho in 2009, the last year for which figures are available. IMA estimates its members were responsible for about $720 million of that total. In 2010 IMA members employed 2,860 of the 4,132 people employed in mining and mineral processing statewide.

Idaho Economics gathered payroll, purchase and tax information from IMA members and used that information to evaluate the direct and secondary impacts in the regional and state economies of those expenditures. Because such information was not available from those mining companies who don’t belong to IMA, it was not possible to get accurate estimates of their specific economic impact.


FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jack Lyman
Idaho Mining Association
208.342.0031

John Church
Idaho Economics
208.323.0732

Economic Impact document below in PDF

Updated Friday, April 15 2011

2009 - Year in Review Newsletter

A newsletter to review the Idaho Mining Association major events and activities during 2009. The newsletter includes articles on "Ground Water Rules Approved","Mining Summit with Gov. Otter","Mine Tours"."Legislative Dinners" and "Congressional Visits".

Updated Monday, November 23 2009

See the Association video

View our video "Mining in the Gem State" for a quick summary of the importance of mining in Idaho.

Updated Wednesday, December 24 2008