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57-587: Previous to the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, the General Mining Act of 1872 authorized citizens to freely prospect for minerals on public lands and allowed a discoverer to stake claims to both minerals and surrounding lands for development. This open-access policy enabled a major oil rush in the West, in 1909 prompting U.S. Geological Survey Director George Otis Smith to warn Secretary of

114-427: A 20-year period but can be terminated in 10 years if the resources are not sufficiently developed. As with petroleum, an initial bonus must be paid to the government at the time the lease is awarded. Annual rental fees for coal are $ 3 per acre. Royalties are 12.5% of the gross value for surface mined coal and 8% for coal produced from underground mines. General Mining Act of 1872 The General Mining Act of 1872

171-425: A Congress-imposed moratorium, the federal government has not accepted any new applications for mining claim patents since October 1, 1994. The 1872 law granted extra lateral rights to owners of lode claims. This gave the owners of the surface outcrop of a vein the right to follow and mine the vein wherever it led, even if its subsurface extension continued beneath other mining claims. This provision, also known as

228-477: A competitive bidding period. The Mineral Leasing Act "establishes qualifications for leases , sets out maximum limits on the number of acres of a particular mineral that can be held by a lessee, and prohibits alien ownership of leases except through stock ownership in a corporation ." Conditions of a lease under the Mineral Leasing Act vary based on the type of mineral being extracted. Phosphate and potassium leases have terms and conditions subject to readjustment at

285-562: A single dime." This bill was built off of the previous Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2007. The proposed bill would have prohibited patent grants from all mining or millsites claimed after September 30, 1994. The bill would have established a maintenance fee and a 4% to 8% royalty of the gross incomes of all unpatented mining or millsite claims. The bill would have also assigned protections to lands, such as areas of wilderness study and areas of environmental concern, that would no longer be open to mining and millsite claims. In addition,

342-516: A system of leasing and development for mining interests on federally owned lands. Provisions in the act provide a number of functions: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), a division of the Department of the Interior (DOI), is the principal administrator of the Mineral Leasing Act. BLM evaluates areas for potential development and awards leases based on whoever pays the highest bonus during

399-529: A wilderness designation from Congress. Typically each parcel is governed by its own set of laws and rules that explain the purpose for which the land was acquired, and how the land may be used. The concept of a formal designation and conservation of public lands dates back to the first National Parks. While designating the parks as public, the conservation was another matter. Theodore Roosevelt and his conservation group, Boone and Crockett Club created laws and regulations that protected public land. Roosevelt and

456-460: Is a United States federal law that authorizes and governs prospecting and mining for economic minerals , such as gold, platinum, and silver, on federal public lands . This law, approved on May 10, 1872, codified 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

513-522: 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 that has been owned by the federal government since it became part of the United States, and that 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,

570-439: Is a special designation for public lands which have been completely undeveloped. The concept of wilderness areas was legislatively defined by the 1964 Wilderness Act. Wilderness areas can be managed by any of the above Federal agencies, and some parks and refuges are almost entirely designated wilderness. A wilderness study area is a tract of land that has wilderness characteristics, and is managed as wilderness, but has not received

627-649: Is not subject to mineral entry. Land west of the Great Plains managed by the US Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management , unless designated as wilderness area, is generally open to mining claims. Federal land on or east of the Great Plains was generally acquired by the federal government through purchase, and so is not considered public domain, and is not subject to mining claims. The mining law applies to some mineral products, but not others, and

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684-630: The Boone and Crockett Club continued on influencing the creation of large amounts of public lands including the National Refuge System , USFS and the United States National Forest system. Most state- and federally managed public lands are open for recreational use. Recreation opportunities depend on the managing agency, and run the gamut from the less restrictive, undeveloped wide open spaces of BLM lands to

741-674: 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 (for example the Great Republic of Rough and Ready ), and adopted

798-453: The California Gold Rush . All citizens of the United States of America 18 years or older have the right under the 1872 mining law to locate a lode (hard rock) or placer (gravel) mining claim on federal lands open to mineral entry. These claims may be located once a discovery of a locatable mineral is made. Locatable minerals include but are not limited to platinum, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, uranium and tungsten. Miners and prospectors in

855-717: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the United States Department of Defense , which includes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers . In general, Congress must legislate the creation or acquisition of new public lands, such as national parks; however, under the 1906 Antiquities Act , also known as the National Monuments Act, the President may designate new national monuments without congressional authorization if

912-525: The West Bank of Palestine are in part based on the Ottoman Empire law specifying that land not worked for over ten years becomes "state lands". In the United States, governmental entities at all levels- including townships, cities, counties, states, and the federal government- all manage land which are referred to as either public lands or the public domain . The majority of public lands in

969-553: The law of the apex led to lengthy litigation and even underground battles, especially in Butte, Montana , and the Comstock Lode . The acquisition of mining rights on public land in the West is mostly governed by the 1872 act. Subsequent changes to the law include: Provisions of the 1872 Mining Law were changed with the implementation of the 1976 Federal Land Policy Management Act (FLPMA) effective as of January 1981. Many of

1026-521: The "placer law" signed into law on July 9, 1870. The Chaffee law of 1869 and the placer law of 1871 were combined into the General Mining Act of 1872. The mining law of 1866 had given discoverers rights to stake mining claims to extract gold , silver , cinnabar (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

1083-541: The Act, according to the Mineral Policy Center. A mining claim is the right to explore for and extract minerals from a tract of land. Claim staking is the required procedure of marking the boundaries of the mining claim, typically with wooden posts or substantial piles of rocks. Each western state has slightly different requirements for claim staking. Once the claim is staked, the prospector documents

1140-576: The Animas River watershed, was a key factor in introducing the bill. Sen. Udall introduced the bill as a way to make mine operators responsible for mine spills and stated "We cannot wait for more disasters like the Gold King mine spill for us to act. We cannot continue to do nothing while thousands of abandoned hardrock mines drain toxic metals into our rivers, water supplies, and our drinking water each and every day." The proposed bill, built upon

1197-820: The Federal government, mining claim occupation permits and detailed Mining Plans of Operations to be submitted to the governing agencies before disturbing the surface. On November 1, 2007, the US House passed the Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2007 ( H.R. 2262 ) by a vote of 244–116. The bill would have permanently ended new patents for mining claims, imposed a royalty of 4% of gross revenues on existing mining extracting from unpatented mining claims, and placed an 8% royalty on new mining operations. Mining of private mineral rights (including patented mining claims) would not have been affected. Seventy percent of

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1254-621: The Hardrock Mining Reform and Reclamation Act of 2015, included a specified maintenance fee of all unpatented claims, with a $ 150 fee for each claim along with a $ 50 location fee. The bill adjusted the percentage of royalties collected from mining production to between 2% and 5% and stated that all mining operators are required to present to the Secretary of the Interior the financial ability to pay for any damages to any land and water resources affected by mining. The bill proposed

1311-577: The Interior Richard A. Ballinger that oil lands were being claimed so quickly they would be unavailable within a few months. Ballinger notified President Taft who promptly created the first American oil reserve by executive order on September 27, 1909, withdrawing 3,041,000 acres (12,310 km) of public lands in California and Wyoming from further claims, and reserving the oil for use by the United States Navy. Congress ratified

1368-512: 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 specifics such as in the maximum size of claims, and the frequency with which a claim had to be worked to avoid being forfeited and subject to being claimed by someone else. California miners spread

1425-478: The Secretary of the Interior to set the percentage of royalties to be collected from mining productions. The bill died in the 115th Congress. Public land#United States In all modern states, a portion of land is held by central or local governments. This is called public land , state land , or Crown land ( Commonwealth realms ). The system of tenure of public land, and the terminology used, varies between countries. The following examples illustrate some of

1482-701: The United States are held in trust for the American people by the federal government and managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the United States National Park Service , the Bureau of Reclamation , or the Fish and Wildlife Service under the Department of the Interior , or by the United States Forest Service under the Department of Agriculture . Other federal agencies that manage public lands include

1539-493: The bill died at the end of the 111th United States Congress in January 2011. The Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2014 was introduced by Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon) on July 10, 2014. Rep. Peter DeFazio stated "For over 140 years, the federal government has allowed mining companies to extract hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of valuable publicly owned minerals from our public lands without paying American taxpayers

1596-555: The bill would have created the Hardrock Minerals Fund, which would require a payment to the Secretary of the Interior of 7 cents per ton of displaced mining material, paid for by all operators of a hardrock mining site. These funds would then be allocated to land and water resources that were impacted negatively by mining operations. The proposed bill, however, died at the end of the 113th Congress in January 2015. The Hardrock Mining Reform and Reclamation Act of 2015

1653-574: The claim by filing required forms. Originally the forms were filed with the mining district recorder; today they are filed with the Clerk of the County in which the claim is located, and with the US Bureau of Land Management. Papers are likewise filed to document annual assessment work. A lode claim , also known in California as a quartz claim , is a claim over a hard rock deposit. A placer claim

1710-404: The claim is worked every year. For instance, the failure to prosecute the work on the tunnel for six months is considered the abandonment of rights to all the undiscovered veins on the line of the tunnels. In addition, at least $ 100 worth of labor shall be performed or improvements made annually. If this does not occur, the claim or mine upon which such failure occurred shall be made to relocation in

1767-593: The concept all over the west with each new mining rush, and the practices spread to all the states and territories west of the Great Plains . 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

Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 - Misplaced Pages Continue

1824-399: The date of the bill's enactment would not be subject to the royalty. In addition, a reclamation tax of from 0.3% to 1%, the rate set by the secretary of the interior, would be levied on all hardrock mining operations, new and existing, on federal, state, private, and tribal lands. The royalties and reclamation taxes would be used to reclaim abandoned hardrock mines. The proposed legislation

1881-399: The end of each 20-year period. Sodium and sulphur lessee's have the right to renew the lease terms at the end of the first 20-year period and every 10-year period after that. Coal and oil shale leases are generally for 20 year periods, while oil and natural gas leases are generally for 10 year periods. Royalties are payments made from one party to another based on usage of an asset, often in

1938-475: The end of the 110th Congress in January 2009. The Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2009 was introduced in the US Senate by Jeff Bingaman (D- New Mexico ), but died in committee. The proposed bill provided that the secretary of the interior will establish a royalty rate of from 8% to 15% of the value of locateable mineral production from any new mines on federal mineral lands. Mines in production on

1995-518: The establishment of the Hardrock Minerals Reclamation Fund and a requirement that all mining operators pay a fee of 0.6% to 2% of the annual production value of each mine. The bill died in the 114th Congress. The Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2017 was introduced by Sen. Tom Udall (D-New Mexico) on September 9, 2017. The bill proposed builds off of the Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2015 and requires

2052-512: The form of a percentage. The Mineral Leasing Act required monetary gains from the leasing of public lands to be divided three ways, except for Alaska: In Alaska, 90 percent of the revenue goes to the state and 10 percent goes to the Federal Treasury. Under the Mineral Leasing Act and later amendments, the right to produce federally owned petroleum (oil and natural gas) is secured for ten-year periods by competitive bidding, and goes to

2109-475: The highly developed and controlled national and state parks. Wildlife refuges and state wildlife management areas, managed primarily to improve habitat , are generally open to wildlife watching, hiking, and hunting, except for closures to protect mating and nesting, or to reduce stress on wintering animals. National forests generally have a mix of maintained trails and roads, wilderness and undeveloped portions, and developed picnic and camping areas. Historically in

2166-589: The impact of these exotic animals on native plant populations and watersheds. Large tracts of public land in the United States are available for leasing for petroleum or mineral production. Lands which have a high likelihood of producing valuable resources can, as of 2018, command prices as high as $ 80,000 an acre per year. Large tracts of other lands, where the likelihood of the presence or successful exploitation of resources are very low, could be leased, as of 2018, for as low as $ 1.50 an acre per year. The Trump administration greatly expanded mineral leasing resulting in

2223-418: The law. The 1872 law was codified as 30 U.S.C. §§ 22-42 The 1872 act also granted extralateral rights to lode claims, and fixed the maximum size of lode claims as 1500 feet (457m) long and 600 feet (183m) wide. The Act of 1872 also set the price for land assumed under the mining act: FORTY-SECOND CONGRESS. Sess. II Ch. 152. 1872. (approved July ninth, eighteen hundred and seventy) a patent shall issue for

2280-473: The list has changed over time. Since 1920, the list of locatable minerals does not include petroleum , coal , phosphate, sodium, and potassium. Rights to explore for and extract these are leased through competitive bidding. Common construction material such as sand and gravel are obtained by purchase. All mining claims are initially unpatented claims , which give the right only for those activities necessary to exploration and mining, and last only as long as

2337-477: The local governments (municipalities ( Portuguese : municípios ) and freguesias ) can be of two types: public domain ( Portuguese : domínio público ) and private domain ( Portuguese : domínio privado ). The latter is owned like any private entity (and may be sold), while public domain land cannot be sold and it is expected to be used by the public (although it can be leased to private entities for up to 75 years in certain cases). Examples of public domain land are

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2394-555: The margins of the sea and of the rivers, roads, streets, railways, ports, military areas, monuments. The State's private domain is managed by Direção-Geral do Tesouro e Finanças and the State's public domain is managed by various entities (state companies and state institutes, such as the Portuguese Environment Agency , Infraestruturas de Portugal , Administração do Porto de Lisboa S.A., etc.). Public lands on

2451-568: 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. Western representatives successfully argued that western miners and prospectors were performing valuable services by promoting commerce and settling new territory. In 1864, Congress passed a law that instructed courts deciding questions of contested mining rights to ignore federal ownership, and defer to

2508-470: The miners in actual possession of the ground. The following year, Congressional supporters of western miners tacked legislation legalizing lode (hardrock) mining on public land onto a law regarding ditch and canal rights in California, Oregon, and Nevada. 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

2565-764: The monument is on federally-owned land. Each western state also received federal "public land" as trust lands designated for specific beneficiaries, which the States are to manage as a condition to acceptance into the union. Those trust lands cannot any longer be considered public lands as allowing any benefits to the "public" would be in breach of loyalty to the specific beneficiaries. The trust lands (two sections, or about 1,280 acres (5.2 km ) per township ) are usually managed extractively (grazing or mining), to provide revenue for public schools. All states have some lands under state management, such as state parks , state wildlife management areas, and state forests . Wilderness

2622-422: The party paying the highest bonus. There are three forms of payment to the government: bonus (an initial payment to the government), rental (an annual payment of $ 2 per acre), and royalty ( a payment of 1/8 or 12.5% of the gross value of the oil and gas produced). Under the Mineral Leasing Act as amended and the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands of 1947 as amended, coal leases are initially obtained for

2679-479: The placer-claim, including such vein or lode, upon the payment of five dollars per acre such vein or lode claim, and twenty-five feet of surface on each side thereof. The reminder of the placer-claim, or any placer-claim not embracing any vein or lode claim, shall be paid for at the rate of two dollars and fifty cents per acre, together with all costs of proceedings;. It set the price of the land claim to range $ 2.50 to $ 5.00 per acre. This price set by law has remained

2736-529: The president's authority to set aside federally owned lands with the passing of the Pickett Act (36  Stat.   847 ) in 1910. The Supreme Court further affirmed the president's constitutional power to withdraw public land from use in United States v. Midwest Oil Co. , 236 U.S. 459 (1915).. Following these events, Congress enacted the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 which dictated

2793-606: The provisions of FLPMA revised the surface uses allowed on mining claims under the 1872 mining law by halting or restricting unnecessary or undue degradation of the public lands. The regulation portion of the FLPMA is found at 43 CFR 3809 ("Surface Management regulations"). These regulations were updated and the final rules published in December 2001. These rules effectively replace many of the 1872 Mining Law provisions and require mining reclamation, financial guarantees for reclamation to

2850-405: The public patrimony, and proposed seizure of the western mines to pay the huge war debt. In June 1865, Representative George Washington Julian of Indiana introduced a bill for the government to take the western mines from their discoverers, and sell them at public auction . Representative Fernando Wood proposed that the government send an army to California , Colorado , and Arizona to expel

2907-434: The range. In several Commonwealth realms such as Australia , New Zealand and Canada , public lands are referred to as Crown lands . Recent proposals to sell Crown lands have been highly controversial. In France , ( French : domaine public ) may be held by communes , départements , or the central State . In Portugal the land owned by the State, by the two autonomous regions ( Azores and Madeira ) and by

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2964-457: The royalty money would have gone to a cleanup fund for past abandoned mining operations, and 30% to affected communities. The National Mining Association maintained that, in combination with existing federal, state, and local taxes, the royalty imposed by the bill would have burdened US mining with the highest effective tax rate in the world. The bill was not acted upon by the Senate, and died at

3021-463: The same manner as if no location of the same had ever been made. 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. Because of

3078-609: The same since 1872. Investors in an alleged diamond deposit in the western United States that became known as the Diamond Hoax of 1872 paid Benjamin F. Butler for amending the General Mining Act of 1872 to include the terms "valuable mineral deposits" in order to allow legal mining claims in the diamond fields. The Mineral Policy Center estimates that mining companies extract $ 2 billion to $ 3 billion in minerals from public lands every year. From 1872 to 1993, mining companies produced more than $ 230 billion from lands claimed under

3135-413: The western United States, much public land is leased for grazing by cattle or sheep (most National Park Service areas are closed to livestock grazing). This includes vast tracts of National Forest and BLM land, as well as land on some Wildlife Refuges. National Parks are the exception. This use became controversial in the late 20th century as it was examined by environmentalists and scientists concerned about

3192-462: Was backed by the Obama administration. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar stated "There is a new administration in town, and we want to see the 1872 mining law reformed." However, in 2010, Senate majority leader, Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), who was thought to oppose the bill as written, announced that, due to other legislative priorities, the bill would not be acted upon before Congress adjourned, and so

3249-535: Was introduced to the 114th Congress by Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Arizona) on February 13, 2015. This proposed bill was built off of the Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2014. The bill died in committee. The Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2015 was introduced to the 114th Congress by Sen. Tom Udall (D-New Mexico) on November 5, 2015. Sen. Tom Udall stated that the Gold King Mine spill of 2015, which spilled 3 million gallons of acid wastewater into

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