A new federally collected royalty (read tax) on hardrock mining has recently been proposed as a part of Congress' solution to fix the national debt and manage the mining industry. A bill co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Raul M. Grijalva, D-Ariz., would set a 12.5 percent royalty rate on the value of certain hardrock minerals on public lands.

This proposal would rewrite the original 1872 mining law in...