General Mining Act of 1872
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The General Mining Act of 1872 is a United States federal law that authorizes and governs prospecting and mining for economic minerals, such as gold and silver, on publicly owned lands. This law, approved on May 10th, 1872, codifies the informal system of acquiring and protecting mining claims on public land, formed by prospectors in California and Nevada from the late 1840s through the 1860s, such as during the California Gold Rush.
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[edit] Western Miners' Codes
Miners and prospectors on the California Gold Rush of 1849 found themselves in a legal vacuum. Although the US federal government had laws governing the leasing of mineral land, the United States had only recently acquired California by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and had little presence in the newly-acquired territories.
Miners organized their own governments in each new mining camp, and adopted the Mexican mining laws then existing in California that gave the discoverer right to explore and mine gold and silver on public land. Miners moved from one camp to the next, and made the rules of all camps more or less the same, usually differing only in details such as in the maximum size of mining claims, and the frequency with which a claim must be worked before it became forfeited and subject to being claimed by someone else. California miners spread the concept all over the west with each new mining rush, and the practices spread to all the states and territoires west of the great plains.
[edit] Mining Legislation Before 1872
Although the practices for open mining on public land were more-or-less universal in the West, and supported by state and territorial legislation, they were still illegal under existing federal law. At the end of the American Civil War, some eastern congressmen regarded western miners as squatters who were robbing the public patrimony, and proposed seizure of the western mines to pay the huge war debt. In June 1865, Representative George W. Julian of Indiana introduced a bill for the government to take the western mines from their discoverors, and sell them at public auction. Representative Fernando Wood proposed that the government send an army to California, Colorado, and Arizona to expel the miners "by armed force if necessary to protect the rights of the Government in the mineral lands." He advocated that the federal government itself work the mines for the benefit of the treasury.[1]
Western representatives sucessfully argued that western miners and prospectors were performing valuable services by promoting commerce and settling new territory, and they tacked legislation legalizing lode (hardrock) mining on public land onto a law regarding eastern canal rights. The legislation, known as the "Chaffee laws" after Colorado Territorial representative Jerome B. Chaffee passed and was signed on July 26, 1866.
Congress extended similar rules to placer mining claims in the 'placer law" signed into law on July 9, 1870.[2]
[edit] The Mining Law of 1872
The mining law of 1866 gave discoverers rights to stake mining claims to extract gold, silver, cinnibar (the principal ore of mercury) and copper. When Congress passed the General Mining Act of 1872, the wording was changed to "or other valuable deposits," giving greater scope to the law. The 1872 act also granted extralateral rights to lode claims.
[edit] Some basic terms:
A mining claim is the right to explore for and extract minerals from a tract of land. All mining claims are initially unpatented claims, which give the right only for those activities neccessary to exploration and mining, and last only as long as the claim is worked every year. The original mining law gave miners the opportunity to obtain patents (deeds from the government), much as farmers could obtain title under the Homestead Act. The owner of a patented claim can put it to any legal use. The process of patenting claims has been perhaps the most controversial part of the mining law.
Claim staking is the required procedure of marking the boundaries of the mining claim, typically with wooden posts or substantial piles of rocks. Each state has slightly different requirements for claim staking. In Australia, the same procedure is called "pegging."
A lode claim, also known in California as a quartz claim, is a claim over a hardrock deposit.
A placer claim is a claim over gold-bearing sand or gravel, often along a stream or river.
The mining law opens up land in the public domain, that is, federal land which has never been set aside for a specific use. Land dedicated for specific uses such as the White House lawn, national parks, or wilderness areas, is not subject to mineral entry.
The mining law applies to some mineral products, but not others, and the list has changed over time. The list of locateable minerals. does not include petroleum, coal, or common construction material such as sand and gravel.
The 1872 law granted extralateral rights to owners of lode claims. This gave the owners of the surface outcrop of a vein the follow and mine the vein wherever it led, even if its subsurface extension continued beneath other mining claims. This provision, also known as the law of the apex led to lengthy litigation and even underground battles, especially in Butte, Montana and the Comstock Lode.
[edit] Subsequent Amendents
The acquisition of mining rights on public land in the West is mostly governed by the 1872 act. Subsequent changes to the law include:
- the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, which made certain nonmetallic minerals, such as petroleum and oil shale, not open to claim staking;
- the Mineral Materials Act of 1947, which provides for the sale or public giveaway of certain minerals, such as sand or gravel;
- the Multiple Mineral Use Act of 1954, which provided for the development of multiple minerals on the same tracts of public land;
- the Multiple Surface Use Mining Act of 1955, which withdrew common varieties from mineral entry; and
- the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, part of which redefines claim recording procedures and provides for abandonment if the procedures are not followed.
- the sale of public land is still prohibited in 2005. Mining claims can be established on public lands but more and more state and federal restrictions are being enacted.
There are currently several efforts underway to change the law, which had thus far been hampered by resistance from House Resources Committee. However, the 2006 election led to the shakeup in which the chair of the resources committee Rep. Pombo (R, California) lost the election is being replaced by Nick Rahall from West Virginia who has been a strong crtic of the industry.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ "Origin of our mining laws," Mining & Scientific Press, 9/23/1905 p.203.
- ^ Curtis H. Lindley (1914) A treatise on the American Law Relating to Mines and Mineral Lands, San Francisco: Bancroft-Whitney, p.50-63.
