Rounds: "Homestake Lab is the First Great Opportunity of the Century"

By Governor Mike Rounds
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Decades ago, two pioneers--Gutzon Borglum and Korczak Ziolkowski--seized upon an opportunity to create something that would eventually be known the world-over and cherished by future generations. They began carving entire mountains, creating two great monuments, Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse. Today, these works inspire all those who see them.

South Dakotans have a similar, and greater opportunity before us today; an opportunity to create something that will benefit future generations for many years to come. We have the opportunity to "carve" the inside of a mountain-to create a world-class, deep underground science and engineering laboratory, right in our back yard.

The Homestake Mine, once a profitable and successful gold mine, was the site of the single largest gold deposit ever found in the Western Hemisphere. At its peak in the 1930s, it employed over 3,000 people.

But now, the mine is closed, and the days of prosperity through gold mining are over for Homestake. However, we are fortunate to have the opportunity to create a new tomorrow for the Homestake Mine and for South Dakota. Decades of development in the pursuit of gold has left a vast underground architecture that is perfectly suited to accommodate the many different scientific fields that are in need of a deep underground laboratory.

This deep underground science and engineering laboratory, or DUSEL, is a proposed federal laboratory which will house scientific experiments that will expand our knowledge of the planet and our universe. It will produce cutting edge scientific research in several fields, and build on the Nobel-Prize winning work of many scientists, such as Ray Davis, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2002 for his neutrino research conducted at Homestake. This laboratory will bring together some of the brightest minds in the world. It will create an immeasurable opportunity for our youth who want to pursue science. And, it could have an economic impact of well over a billion dollars.

Currently, the National Science Foundation (NSF) is searching for the best location to build such a laboratory. The DUSEL must be able to house experiments as deep as 7,400 feet. Homestake has a natural advantage over all the sites competing for the DUSEL: it is already 8,000 feet deep with over 375 miles of tunnels. While other locations would need to tunnel through unknown underground territory to get to 7,400 feet, all we have to do at Homestake is pump water out of the lower levels of the mine.

This is a tremendous opportunity for the advancement of science and to create opportunities for our children for generations to come. I'm proud of the commitment that South Dakotans have shown to this project so far. We have a team of scientists and technicians dedicated to securing this national laboratory at Homestake. We've been working to ensure that Homestake is the best location for the NSF to select for the DUSEL. So far, we're on the right track.

The Barrick Gold Corporation, through an act of tremendous corporate generosity, donated the areas of Homestake needed for the DUSEL to the state of South Dakota. We've established the South Dakota Science and Technology Authority to operate and improve the mine as a site for scientific experiments and projects. We've set aside state funding and secured federal appropriations to maintain and improve the mine. We've also received an enormous, private donation from T. Denny Sanford to be used if Homestake is selected as the DUSEL location, part of which will be used to create the Sanford Science Education Center.

The NSF has been very thorough in its selection process. We appreciate their deliberative approach. The DUSEL will be a large investment of taxpayer dollars, and the location of this facility is a significant decision.

This March, the NSF conducted site visits at Homestake and three other possible site locations in Minnesota, Colorado and Washington State. The NSF plans to announce their decision about the DUSEL location. Even if Homestake is selected, we will still have a great deal of work ahead of us to bring the DUSEL from concept to reality. We look forward to the challenge.

I hope that one day, like Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse, this mountain of opportunity will be transformed into one of South Dakota's great success stories.

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