BOISE - Idaho's largest mining companies should be able to at least keep the vast majority of their workers employed throughout 2014, Idaho Mining Association Executive Director Jack Lyman said Wednesday.

"My guess is that we're gonna remain flat in terms of employment to maybe losing a couple of hundred jobs," Lyman said in an interview. "I don't see that we'll be adding 500 jobs."

He added: "So, probably pretty flat."

Lyman told the Senate Resources and Environment Committee Wednesday afternoon that $80,000 is the average annual wage for the 3,200-plus workers at member companies of the Idaho Mining Association.

Including salaries and benefits, an average of $102,132 was paid per Idaho Mining Association worker in 2012, according to an economic impact study by University of Idaho research economist Steven Peterson.

"The important part, and what I always emphasize here and when I talk to the legislators: is that these are really good jobs," Lyman said. "So, while we may not be adding jobs, it's really important for us to maintain the jobs that we've got."

Peterson's study also indicates that the mining association's member firms added $1.1 billion to Idaho's gross state economy in 2012.

"That's a lot of money that we inject into Idaho's economy," Lyman said.

In 2012 according to the UI study, Idaho Mining Association member company production in Shoshone, Kootenai, Lemhi, and Custer counties contributed $376.9 million to Idaho's state gross product while payroll was pegged at $183.8 million. And the mining association's member companies in those counties paid $35.2 million in state and local taxes, the study indicated.

State and local taxes paid by Idaho Mining Association companies as a result of mining activities contributed $106.6 million in 2012 to government coffers, the UI study showed.

The Idaho Mining Association represents Idaho's largest mining firms, Lyman said.