National Mining Association (NMA) President and CEO Hal Quinn issued the following statement today in response to the release of the first annual report of the U.S. Extractive Industries Transparency Report developed by the Multi-Stakeholder Group, of which NMA is a member:
“The U.S. Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative Report released yesterday promotes transparency and disclosure of revenues from the extractive industries that provide the building blocks of modern society. The report is the result of a three-year effort by NMA and its member companies, in collaboration with representatives from other industries, the federal government and civil society.
“U.S. mining is a world-class industry with high standards for safety, health and production. This report exemplifies our leadership in ensuring the general public better understands where mining revenues come from and how they support national, state and local communities.
“Our participation with other organizations in the Multi-Stakeholder Group has resulted in even greater transparency through the implementation of an interactive website that shows all extractive industry payments to the government. Importantly, the report helps highlight the robust systems the U.S. has in place to ensure appropriate payments are received. In fact, report auditors were able to reconcile 100 percent of the payments voluntarily reported by the 31 participating companies with revenues disclosed by the federal government. There were no unexplained variances between industry and government data.”