When Tiffany & Co. takes out a newspaper advertisement, the famous jewelry store is usually spotlighting one of its upscale sparklers -- some really fine diamond drop earrings for $200,000, say. But Tiffany took the Bush administration and the mining industry by surprise yesterday with its advocacy ad in The Washington Post.

Michael J. Kowalski, chairman of the board and chief executive of Tiffany & Co., took out the ad to publish an open letter to U.S. Forest Service chief Dale Bosworth, criticizing the planned Rock Creek copper and silver mining project in Montana as unsafe for the environment and wildlife. Revett Silver Co. would tunnel under the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness in Kootenai National Forest.

The Forest Service has "approved the Rock Creek project in concept despite vehement opposition by a coalition of local, regional and national conservation groups, along with local business representatives, public officials and ordinary citizens. The opponents fears are justified," Kowalski wrote in the ad. " . . . Other disputes of this nature . . . are too often settled in favor of developers because statutes and department regulations tilt that way." He called for a revision of the 1872 General Mining Act.

"We at Tiffany & Co. understand that mining must remain an important industry. But like some other businesses benefiting from trade in precious metals, we also believe that reforms are urgently needed."

In an interview yesterday, Kowalski said Tiffany had been jolted a few years back by the discovery of "conflict diamonds," the precious stones that had been mined under brutal conditions and used by rebels in some African countries to fuel their wars. After getting involved over the conflict diamonds, he said, the company became more aware of other mining issues.

"We've always believed we had an implicit contract with our customers. They absolutely expect our precious metals are mined in an environmentally and socially responsible way," he said.

Although Tiffany consulted with a variety of groups and interests, including Earthworks, an environmental coalition, and the company's Washington lobby shop, Cassidy & Associates, Kowalski said no one had brought Tiffany into the Rock Creek dispute. "The ad was written by us."

Mark Rey, undersecretary of the Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Forest Service, was not impressed. "The ad is as uninformed on the status of the mine project as it is of the address of the Forest Service," he said, critical that Kowalski had put his comments in the ad before contacting Bosworth privately. Rey said that Bosworth is going to meet with the Tiffany CEO on April 15.

Carol Raulston, a spokeswoman for the National Mining Association, said her group was surprised by the ad, since it had been having conversations about mining issues with Tiffany. "Our sense was they had just dipped their toe in the issue," she said. Revett Silver executive Doug Ward said the Rock Creek project will not damage the environment.

He said Rock Creek has been under study for 16 years, making it "the most intensely studied mining project in the U.S., bar none." He said the company still needs to do detailed engineering studies, and he expects it will have to fight in court before the mine can be built.

March 25, 2004
Copyright 2004 The Washington Post Company