As the title of this book indicates, the articles in the pages ahead primarily concern the vital role of the metals and minerals industry in the United States and its fight for survival. The articles' author offers an impassioned and reasoned defense of this industry against the incessant, ferocious attacks it was under during the years he was writing about it (from 1981 until his death in 1993). Volume 3 of the Dave W. Parkhurst Mining Writing Collection begins with a treatise on America's need for a strong minerals industry, in Part I. In the second part of Volume 3 the focus of the articles is on mining vs. anti-mining extremism, with such unambiguous titles as "Extremists Mount Offensive in Environmental War." Dave reported extensively on the political, legislative and regulatory actions of government, both federal and state, affecting mining. Part III of this volume begins with the history and development of the Mining Law of 1872, as amended. In the articles that follow this historical overview of U.S. mining law, the author chronicles the ubiquitous efforts to undermine or eliminate the law legislatively and the reasons why the mining law must be defended and preserved. A CRITICAL INDUSTRY UNDER ATTACK: The Struggle to Preserve Metals and Minerals Mining Viability in the U.S. is Volume 3 in the Dave W. Parkhurst Mining Writing collection. The three main parts of the book concern these topics: (1) the issues, challenges and threats affecting U.S. mining in the 1980s and early 1990s; (2) miners and mining vs. anti-mining extremism, and (3) defense of the 1872 Mining Law as amended.