The Northern Nevada Section of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration (“Northern Nevada SME”) is pleased to announce the availability of a specialty Nevada license plate to honor Mining in Nevada. These plates are available through local Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles (“DMV”) offices, or they can be ordered online through the DMV website.

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Northern Nevada SME first submitted a request for a specialty plate to honor mining in December 2011, and the DMV approved the request in August 2018. Northern Nevada SME solicited design ideas for the plate from its membership and from other professional societies. The winning design for the plate was submitted by Patsy Moran, PhD, SME Registered Member, and fine-tuned with help from numerous Nevada SME members. “We have been working to make this plate available for a long time, and we are pleased with the final result. It honors both the past and future of mining in our state. Any supporter of mining and its vital role in Nevada should be proud to have this plate on their vehicle,” stated Chris Blue, chairman of the Northern Nevada SME

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The DMV provides a portion of the proceeds from the sale or renewal of each Mining in Nevada plate to the Northern Nevada SME to fund scholarships for Mining Engineering, Geology, Metallurgy, and other mining-related fields at Nevada universities. The number and amount of the scholarships will depend on the number of plates sold. The number of authorized specialty plate designs is limited by the Nevada legislature. In order to keep the Nevada Mining plate available for new registrations, at least 1,000 must be registered by December of 2022, and at least 1,000 active registrations must be maintained annually thereafter.

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The Mining plates are available to be personalized and are also available in a smaller size for motorcycles and trailers. Northern Nevada SME plans to raise additional funds for the scholarship by auctioning rights to certain of the first 100 plate numbers, 0000 through 0099. The online auction is scheduled to open in late July.

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About Northern Nevada SME
The Northern Nevada Section of SME is a Reno, Nevada based local section of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration, a professional society dedicated to serving the mining, resources and underground construction communities for a sustainable future. For more information on the auction for the first 100 plate numbers, contact Michael Norred. For more information on the Northern Nevada SME scholarships, contact Sarah Lightner.