Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New
Mexico, South Dakota, Utah, and Washington;
(7) Nevada is the largest silver producing State
in the Nation, producing—
(A) 17,500,000 ounces of silver in 2001;
and
(B) 34 percent of United States silver pro-
duction in 2000;
(8) the mining industry in Idaho is vital to the
economy of the State, and the Silver Valley in north-
ern Idaho leads the world in recorded silver produc-
tion, with over 1,100,000,000 ounces of silver pro-
duced between 1884 and 2001;
(9) the largest, active silver producing mine in
the Nation is the McCoy/Cove Mine in Nevada,
which produced more than 107,000,000 ounces of
silver between 1989 and 2001;
(10) the mining industry in Idaho—
(A) employs more than 3,000 people;
(B) contributes more than $900,000,000
to the Idaho economy; and
(C) produces $70,000,000 worth of silver
per year;
(11) the silver mines of the Comstock lode, the
premier silver producing deposit in Nevada, brought
people and wealth to the region, paving the way for
statehood in 1864, and giving Nevada its nickname
as ‘‘the Silver State’’;
(12) mines in the Silver Valley—
(A) represent an important part of the
mining history of Idaho and the United States;
and
(B) have served in the past as key compo-
nents of the United States war effort; and
(13) silver has been mined in Nevada through-
out its history, with every significant metal mining
camp in Nevada producing some silver.
SEC. 3. PURCHASE OF SILVER BY THE SECRETARY OF THE
TREASURY.
(a) PURCHASE OF SILVER.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 5116(b)(2) of title
31, United States Code, is amended by inserting
after the second sentence the following: ‘‘At such
time as the silver stockpile is depleted, the Secretary
shall obtain silver as described in paragraph (1) to
mint coins authorized under section 5112(e). If it is
not economically feasible to obtain such silver, the
Secretary may obtain silver for coins authorized
under section 5112(e) from other available sources.
The Secretary shall not pay more than the average
world price for silver under any circumstances. As
used in this paragraph, the term ‘average world
price’ means the price determined by a widely recog-
nized commodity exchange at the time the silver is
obtained by the Secretary.’’.
(2) RULEMAKING AUTHORITY.—The Secretary
of the Treasury shall issue regulations to implement
the amendments made by paragraph (1).
(b) STUDY REQUIRED.—
(1) STUDY.—The Secretary of the Treasury
shall conduct a study of the impact on the United
States silver market of the coins minted and issued
under section 5112(e) of title 31, United States
Code, commonly referred to as the ‘‘American Eagle
silver bullion program’’.
(2) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the
Treasury shall submit a report of the study con-
ducted under paragraph (1) to the chairman and
ranking minority member of—
(A) the Committee on Banking, Housing,
and Urban Affairs of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Financial Services
of the House of Representatives.
(c) ANNUAL REPORT.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the United
States Mint shall prepare and submit to Congress an
annual report on the purchases of silver made pur-
suant to this Act and the amendments made by this
Act.
(2) CONCURRENT SUBMISSION.—The report re-
quired by paragraph (1) may be incorporated into
the annual report of the Director of the United
States Mint on the operations of the mint and assay
offices, referred to in section 1329 of title 44,
United States Code.
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