They're trying to make their mining codes more easy, more accessible - whereas South Africa, because of the political uncertainty here, it's been more difficult to promote their mining investment.
Creating a global mining behemoth is not an easy task, but in the specific case of the proposed merger between Glencore and Xstrata, it has looked more like a promethean task.
But corruption in Kentucky consists of mining firms leaning on local officials to go easy on environmental regulations, or school boards appointing their members' relatives to sinecures.