Biden plan would overhaul 151-year-old mining law, make companies pay royalties for copper and gold

Terraces cut into the hillside at the huge Santa Rita copper mine in Grant County, N.M., are shown in this March 1999 file photo. The Biden administration is recommending changes to a 151-year-old law that governs mining for copper, gold and other hardrock minerals on U.S.-owned lands, including making companies pay royalties on what they extract. (Richard Pipes/The Albuquerque Journal via AP, File)