Published: April 1, 2016 |

Stuart Sanderson.
[Click image to enlarge]

Stuart Sanderson will step down after nearly 22 years as president of the Colorado Mining Association.

“Old trade association execs never die, they just become consultants,” joked Sanderson, who officially retires from the CMA on Sept. 30.

Sanderson, 64, said he is, indeed, setting up a consulting firm and will advise the association for six months after his departure. But he plans to keep fighting to ensure the survival of one of Colorado’s oldest industries.

“We have worked to keep Colorado open for the business of mining; successfully supporting laws that would promote mining and opposing measures that would impose unreasonable restrictions or outright prohibitions on modern mining and reclamation practices,” he said.

Sanderson, an attorney by training, joined the CMA in October 1994, after it had suffered a slump following a dues increase.

Under his watch, the CMA has doubled its core corporate membership to 175 and increased revenues 10-fold. With service providers and other affiliates, the association’s membership numbers more than 900.

Colorado mining generates $3 billion in revenues and pays some of the highest wages in the state. Colorado ranks 10th in the nation for coal production, fourth for gold and first for molybdenum and is a source of sodium bicarbonate, gypsum, limestone and other materials.

After a strong run earlier this decade, commodity prices are under pressure from an economic slow down in China. Coal is in a fight for survival against opponents who consider it a key contributor to climate change.

Source: (March 29, 2016) The Denver Post

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