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Minerals & Mining Law ( January 1999 )
To many people, the laws governing exploration for minerals on public domain lands and leasing of federal minerals may seem arcane. The principal means of acquiring mining rights on federal lands is location of mining claims under the Mining Law of 1872. That statute, enacted when the West was being settled and federal policy encouraged disposal of public domain lands, still governs the location of metallic minerals such as gold, silver, tin and copper, as well as other minerals including uranium, building stone other than common varieties, and even diamonds. Mining rights relating to fossil fuels such as coal, fertilizer minerals such as phosphate and potash, and chemical minerals such as sodium and sulphur on federal lands are acquired under the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920.
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