For 149 years, the General Mining Law of 1872 has governed the production of hardrock minerals on federal lands. Under the law, companies are not required to pay a royalty to taxpayers from the sale of publicly owned minerals including gold, silver, copper, and uranium extracted from federal lands. On top of the royalty-free treatment, the hardrock industry enjoys generous tax breaks like the percentage depletion allowance and expensing of exploration and development costs. This is a double giveaway that have shortchanged taxpayers billions of dollars.

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