Guest post: The importance of mining to New Mexico

It is widely known that New Mexico’s major industries involve extracting valuable natural resources like oil and gas and minerals from the ground. While the economic impact of oil and gas in New Mexico has been widely discussed in this space, mining has not received as much attention. And the mining industry alone employs approximately 6,000 workers in our state.

New Mexico businesses—large and small—depend on a steady supply of minerals to develop and deliver the products we rely on every day. Copper—of which our state is the third-largest producer in the United States—is used in microprocessors for computers, wiring for electronics and as a sterile agent in advanced medicine. Minerals like molybdenum, which is also mined in New Mexico, are important components of energy technologies like hybrid vehicles and wind turbines.

Considering the real economic growth generated by minerals mining and the important ways in which it contributes to meeting our nation’s security objectives, New Mexico should seek to fully utilize its mineral resources. It would be a boon to our struggling economy as well.

Paul Gessing is the president of the Rio Grande Foundation based out of Albuquerque, N.M.

This post was cross-posted on Errors of Enchancement from the Rio Grande Foundation.