Mining exec says industry will survive

"The good news is we've got some world class deposits in this state, and we've got world class operators. We're going to be poised for a tremendous comeback when the price of gold does come back, and I think it will," he said.

Speaking at the Women in Mining National Convention in Winnemucca, Fields said the price of gold is extremely important to northern Nevada residents.

They keep up with what the central banks of Europe are saying about the precious metal and understand how creation of the new European Central Bank and euro dollar may impact gold prices, he said.

"We're highly sophisticated out here," Fields told the gathering on Saturday.

Fields said his message to the Nevada Legislature is that mines have "sharpened their pencils" to keep costs down and are "operating very, very efficiently."

"But please don't give us any more costs, be it taxes, be it new regulations, be it anything that hits the cost side of the equation, because we've got costs down about as low as we can go," he said.

Fields said reports of layoffs and mine shutdowns are more gloomy than the actual picture of what is happening in Nevada, adding that two new mines are in development now - the underground mine at Midas and the new open pit mining operation at Olinghouse in northwestern Nevada.

"Midas could very well be a tremendous mine. We're really looking forward to it," he said. "So even with the tough situation that we have right now, all is not black. We are opening new mines. We are becoming more efficient at our present mines."

The Midas Joint Venture, made up of the sister companies Franco-Nevada and Euro-Nevada, is developing the Ken Snyder Mine in Elko County and the gold deposit is rich enough that the company expects to mine for $78 an ounce.

Work on Olinghouse is just getting started, following U.S. Bureau of Land Management approval earlier this month. The Washoe County mine is owned by Alta Gold Co., which expects to produce gold for $200 an ounce.

Along with concerns about more taxes from the Nevada Legislature, Fields said he believes the biggest threat to mining operations comes from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which can adopt regulations and control policy on several fronts.

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