This is an interesting proposal, and one worth responding to.
As a liberal from Minnesota, I must say that the notion of governmental involvement has a certain knee-jerk appeal to me. <ggg> But I wonder if it wouldn't be best to let the private sector direct and fund such exploration, rather than have such an effort be handled by the government at taxpayer expense. Governmental projects of this magnitude are almost routinely excessive, inefficient, and wasteful, esp. compared to the private sector, which has to cope with finite resources, angry shareholders, etc. And while taxpayers would probably benefit from the increased capital inflows as prospectors rush in to stake promising government-located land, they will get the same benefit if this is done by the private sector, in addition to the benefit of capital inflows that come with funding the private sector's activities.
As evidence that the current system "works," one can look at the activities already being conducted by companies in AZ. Maxam, IPM, and MG Gold are the principal companies that come to mind that are currently evaluating the landscape for promising finds. I know, I know, your response is that these companies are all scams. You're wrong, but this is what the civil and criminal justice systems are for. And BTW, having the government handle exploration and auditing is no guarantee that results won't be faked, or royally f*cked up, by government workers, esp. with the corrupt, lame-ass state government AZ currently has. JMHO, of course. : )
Regards, Otter |
