For the second straight year, Butte, Montana, hosted the National Summit of Mining Communities. The Summit was created in Leadville, Colorado, in 2006 in recognition that many mining communities experience the economic pitfalls associated with the boom and bust cycles of mining. The Summit will focus on sharing experiences in order to help communities avert or reduce the severe economic cycles associated with changes in company presence.
The Summit began as a grassroots gathering of people from mining towns with the emphasis on
“communities talking to communities.” The discussions are not only about current issues and challenges, but also about past success stories that arose from adversity. Highlights for the 2009 Summit included a tour of both Virginia City and Nevada City (two historic gold mining towns of the old west), as well as the Ruby Valley Garnet Mine. Presentations included a special session on Public Participation: What's Working—What Could be Improved, featuring talks on Technical Assistance Grants (TAGs) and experiences from Montana Forest Restoration Committees. In addition to numerous other presentations.
The synergy of sharing achievements and solutions to these common issues that face every mining community will make all our communities stronger and will help mining communities turn challenges into opportunities, and adversity into success stories.
Watch 2009 Presentations